tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38815392150775965072017-02-08T23:51:20.172-05:00Unexpected SongBelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-41554678978490000632014-07-24T20:16:00.001-06:002014-07-24T20:16:16.142-06:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 10 (part 1) - Werther <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey you all! Ah I just finished reading my Fifty Shades trilogy and I must say I really liked what I read! I'm feeling very book orphaned now that I finished and since the movie trailer (HOLY SHIT IT'S SO HOT, click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZWFDs0LxA" target="_blank">here </a>if you dare and watch it) came out today you won't be surprised if I start reading the series all over again soon. There are some parts that are over sweetened but the story is involving and the sex is real great! My AMAZING voice coach gave me a book called Fifty Shades of Mr. Darcy for my birthday which is a crossover of Fifty Shades of Gray and Pride and Prejudice, it’s a satire and I cannot wait to start reading it tonight! I also downloaded the first season of Mad Man which I’m excited to start watching!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Remember there was one day missing from my New York City adventures? Here it goes then!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It is always like this, when we near the end of a trip like this we start wanting to do a gazzilion things all at the same time. That is why mum and I were up extra early that morning and after our breakfast, we hit the streets. We went to several stores buying all in our way (Brazilians are very much like that, we have no sense of proportion). We went to this trendy sunglasses store, ah, the name escapes me, ah, I know! Sunglass Hut (or something) on Fifth Avenue. Don’t worry I wasn’t about to throw a couple of hundred dollars into sunglasses, I mean, I got mine at Forever 21 for like $10 and they are great! We were actually there because my cousin’s sunglasses broke and my uncle asked us to take them there to get them fixed. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that that was the very worst service I ever got in a store. I would hop from attendant to attendant trying to get someone to help me and they would either ignore me or just try and shove to another attendant. My patience was coming to an end because I had a ticket to see Werther at 1 and the hour was nearing. Bottom line, we didn’t get anything solved and that store is the worst, I’m serious, the worst! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pRw_2hXf-VQ/U9G34eKHeeI/AAAAAAAACLU/gnA8dRuxm38/s1600/DSC01867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pRw_2hXf-VQ/U9G34eKHeeI/AAAAAAAACLU/gnA8dRuxm38/s1600/DSC01867.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">that's my mommy, ain't he the cutest?</span></i>&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well I got in a cab and rushed to the Met. Man, why am I ALWAYS rushing to that godforsaken place? Why can’t I just be early for once? I always arrive at the nick of time! Anyway, I did get there a good 15 minutes prior to curtain and I thought I might try my luck yet again with the student ticket thing since my seat pretty much sucked balls. And I think I’m starting to understand this whole thing, it depends ENTIRELY upon the good will of the person in the booth. Because as soon as I saw the sour face of the attendant I knew I wouldn’t be getting shit. Well, I had a ticket, a $30 Family Circle side ticket, but a ticket nonetheless, in a bit I was in!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As I headed towards my seat, which was oddly near to the stage but far too high I started regretting the decision of buying this ticket. It was the nearest seat to the stage up in the family circle so I actually had to lean forward a lot to see the stage. I also had to make a choice, to either read the surtitles or watch the opera, I could not do both. Anyway, I was just happy to be there so sod it! A very cool couple sat next to me and we chatted for a little bit before it began.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ti26md9MIVk/U9G554-OiUI/AAAAAAAACLg/6xoBoM4u0fc/s1600/1798464_10152064961002713_1887143739_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ti26md9MIVk/U9G554-OiUI/AAAAAAAACLg/6xoBoM4u0fc/s1600/1798464_10152064961002713_1887143739_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>THE fabulous view!</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oh dude, Werther, it’s Massenet, only one of my favorite composers, my favorite French composer, I was in the clouds as soon as those first notes rang. Again, I loved the story telling in the beginning and the good thing about this seat was that I could actually see facial expressions! I could see them extremely well! The back of the stage was blocked to me but in the front part, not a single facial expression was missed. So it was really like watching a whole new thing, I already had a very good notion of how the production worked but now I could actually see all their faces twist and twitch!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Kudos yet again to those kids playing Charlotte’s siblings, they were simply incredible. Such sincere, playful and truthful acting you would think they were not acting at all! This makes me wish I could have seen my good friend Melanie perform in the children’s chorus. But anyway it was really great to be able to actually see with my own eyes the first time Werther sets his eyes on Charlotte. And we’re talking Jonas Kaufmann here so you people know that he absolutely rocked the singing and the acting part of Werther. I feel so lucky that I was able to actually see this amazing production live, twice! I’ll never tire of saying that because I’m truly humbled and extremely grateful that I was lucky enough to be there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As the plot moves along I’m able to see the ball scene upclose which was such a lovely amazing surprise to me and quickly became one of my favorite scenes from this production. Even though it’s like 3 minutes long, it’s extremely romantic and gives me goose pups. Because when they arrive at the garden after the ball they are already smitten with each other. But to have that ball scene you get to see their firsts, like the first dance, the first time they look in each others eyes, their first conversation alone, it’s inspired. Gosh I’m getting way too overly excited about this. Sorry guys, you people have to remember I’m a hopeless romantic even though I put on the ice queen façade.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_3zqaq9vj8/U9G6x40BxEI/AAAAAAAACLo/tiB1hGONfsc/s1600/WERTFD_4941a-3098442524-O.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_3zqaq9vj8/U9G6x40BxEI/AAAAAAAACLo/tiB1hGONfsc/s1600/WERTFD_4941a-3098442524-O.jpg" height="400" width="283" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You cannot help but fall for Jonas’ Werther, now I could see the amount of adoration his eyes carry for Charlotte. Although I felt again that Koch was a tad cold to MY taste. As everyone knows I’m a bit too fiery sometimes and expect characters to match that warmth. I did purchase the original Goethe “Die Leiden des jungen Werther” last Sunday. I was lucky enough to find it in a local bookstore here in my hometown and I was a sight to see squirming like an idiot because of my discovery and buying it regardless of the fact that I cannot read German. I find it it’s always good to have the origins and the originals of my favorite works (although my Pushin’s Eugene Onegin is in English but Russian is a step too far, right?). Anyhow back to Koch’s (Charlotte’s) coldness, maybe I found it frustrating because it contrasted SO much with Kaufmann’s (Werther’s) ardor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The garden scene was so great and it was real wonderful to see the facial expressions! One day I’ll have enough money to get myself on a seat in which I can see the facial expressions, sit up straight, read the surtitles and have full view of the stage. Or at least be relevant enough to be given such a seat! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As act one finishes the couple next to me is cuddling and exchanging loving words and I’m surprised that I don’t feel the annoyance I normally do in this kind of situation. I felt actually really happy for them, they were very nice and looked very cute together. Maybe it was the opera. And in that little interval I find out that the lady is actually Brazilian, what are the freaking odds??<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Act two of Werther, not my favorite part of the day. I started getting very irritated with Charlotte’s coldness and lack of compassion for this dude who was crawling at her feet! Sophie’s aria however was LOVELY. I’m so dead serious when I say that Lisette has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard! Geez, what a gift, and paired with such great acting as well as the fact that she is SUPER sweet she just totally wins me over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mHqaDSEuQLo/U9G7iPLnHWI/AAAAAAAACLw/7xI0UAqLrw8/s1600/Jonas-Kaufmann-as-Werther-674x450-e1394412815882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mHqaDSEuQLo/U9G7iPLnHWI/AAAAAAAACLw/7xI0UAqLrw8/s1600/Jonas-Kaufmann-as-Werther-674x450-e1394412815882.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I had such an amazing time at intermission. I was joined by my good, good opera buddies Harry and Kim and we talked about opera all the way and it was awesome. Gosh, I LOVE it that I have them and we can discuss stuff at the same level without me having to explain stuff. We can just talk and exchange so much in such a small period of time! Anyways, as per usual intermission flew by and we were back for DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Act three of Werther, my favorite act! I must admit that Sophie Koch purred her soul out in this, she was INCREDIBLE. She has such a beautiful full, rich, velvety voice that fills the Met and melts your insides. It’s very contrasting with her portrayal of cold Charlotte. Although in this act she was much more emotional, kind of desperate because she thought Werther was going to kill himself. Her sister arrives and she finishes us off with “Va laisse couler me larmes” and I know that’s only the beginning of angst festival but the poor woman next to me does not as she weeps and weeps. The whole opera became even sadder because of her reaction to it, she cried most of the time. And I totally do not judge her, the first time I saw this I also cried the entire final acts. Sophie leaves and DAM, DAM, DAM, DAAAAM, Werther arrives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YC73szjsqXU/U9G8B4GgD3I/AAAAAAAACL4/qzH64_VXQzU/s1600/werther-metropolitan-opera-112~_v-image853_-7ce44e292721619ab1c1077f6f262a89f55266d7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YC73szjsqXU/U9G8B4GgD3I/AAAAAAAACL4/qzH64_VXQzU/s1600/werther-metropolitan-opera-112~_v-image853_-7ce44e292721619ab1c1077f6f262a89f55266d7.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I was so grateful that they remained mostly downstage for this act because then I could see the angst filled expressions of both of them. It was so FREAKING intense I was almost throwing myself off that seat in order to get a better view! At the end of that too impossibly good for words “Pourquoi me réveiller” that opera house almost came apart. I love this part because this aria prepares you for the passionate, desperate part when for brief moments Charlotte gives in. No need to say he’s all over her, and just a fun fact, they TOTALLY toned it down for the HD. They were so all over each other when I saw it, just like the kiss at the end of Eugene Onegin, they REALLY had it going ‘off camera’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then act four was the most frustrating thing that EVER happened to me. Why? Because I could see naught! That little square that was Werther’s room was far to upstage plus the structure blocked my view from above! Meaning I did not see anything really of this whole part. Very, very sad. I could hear it though and that was pretty awesome. And I could also see the lady who was sitting next to me fall apart. She was full on SOBBING, it was so sad, I felt really bad for her. But I also did shed a tear for our Werther.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2peJz8Dx1U/U9G9OUqLIRI/AAAAAAAACMI/iOzkCFqv8cw/s1600/1922301_10152064521652713_129835587_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2peJz8Dx1U/U9G9OUqLIRI/AAAAAAAACMI/iOzkCFqv8cw/s1600/1922301_10152064521652713_129835587_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">bows from my crappy seat</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At bows the audience was wild and the whole cast was just in awe of the whole response. I sat there talking to the lady for quite a while after the curtain fell and she was telling me how she knew opera could be sad but not SO sad. Then I met Kim and we headed down to the stage door so she could get her stuff signed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BCfnIDVSHNw/U9G8l2yY9WI/AAAAAAAACMA/kUND80k8K6Q/s1600/1901948_10152063030232713_280533975_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BCfnIDVSHNw/U9G8l2yY9WI/AAAAAAAACMA/kUND80k8K6Q/s1600/1901948_10152063030232713_280533975_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Harry, Kim and me after the opera</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">DUDE, that stage door was PACKED! I’m talking about 60 people making loads of noise and pushing and pushing. I was really very shocked, I had never seen the stage door like this before. I made a silent prayer thanking my Scots friend Mike for making me wait for 2 hours in the freezing cold at opening night because there was no way I could have exchanged 3 words with Jonas Kaufmann in this crazy gathering.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When Jonas came out loads of people clapped and I just stayed behind waiting for Kim as she ventured to try and get a pic and autograph (she succeeded btw). I felt really bad for Jonas actually, he had to scream several times “I swear I will sign everything and take pictures but please STOP PUSHING!” that is really fucked up. Some people have no respect.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lHTr5wl1wkY/U9G9dL_WniI/AAAAAAAACMQ/et_XwMT2qlM/s1600/crowd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lHTr5wl1wkY/U9G9dL_WniI/AAAAAAAACMQ/et_XwMT2qlM/s1600/crowd.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></span></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got this pic from Lisette's twitter but it really does not do justice to what happened, here people are actually giving her room to breathe, something Jonas did not get</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After the crowd cleared I was tempted to go talk to him but decided against it at the end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m gonna stop here because I really wanna post this today and if I went on and told you about Fledermaus I wouldn’t be able to. I’ll post last day in NYC part 2 soon! Thanks for reading and cheers!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-25115619330647743132014-07-08T21:04:00.002-06:002014-07-08T21:04:33.852-06:00Exciting Concerts to Come!<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hello there world! Was that stadium turned into a slaughter house or what? But I don't really wanna talk about it because quite frankly I don't give a shit about football. I didn't even watch any of the games! I have no patience to watch those games, I feel I could be doing something much more productive with my time.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways this last Thursday was my birthday and I can safely say that I was able to do everything I love and be with all the people that I love. I had a fabulous voice lesson with my fabulous teacher. Sang Mozart who is one of my favorite composers. Went to the book store and bought the other 2 books from the Fifty Shades trilogy (holy shit it’s so good!). Had a great lunch with a complete stranger who turned out to be super nice. Then I went to the MAC store because I got a free makeup for my birthday. It was kinda terrifying during the process of the make up because at some point I did think I was gonna look ridiculous but once it was finished it looked AMAZING! I'll post a picture bellow.Then I went to a nearby Starbucks to start reading Fifty Shades Darker (I got the pretty hard cover one because they had run out of paperbacks). And can you actually believe that the guy who sat next to me all smiles and nice manners actually scolded at me when he saw the title of my book. Fucking jerk. Then I went to my aunt’s house where we had popcorn, salame, cheese and chips while we drank Lemoncello and then red wine and laughed and chatted and laughed some more. My friend Caio was to pick me up but he was late because Prince Harry was visiting the building he works in, how awesome is that, hun? When I got into his car I was extremely tipsy and holding a bag of popcorn which I handed to him, a gift from my aunt. I got to meet his new boyfriend who is really nice and very friendly and since traffic was chaotic we had a lot of time to chat. I arrived at the bar I had told my friends to meet me in 45 minutes late, they were all already there though. Then I drank several mojitos and had a blast of a good time! We even read bits of Fifty Shades Darker out loud for some laughs. Thankfully the book is in English so the amount of people who actually had the capacity of understanding what we were laughing at was small. Bottom line, GREAT BIRTHDAY.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WD7FcnnY2OM/U7yr2LVbguI/AAAAAAAACHE/EN3WFkrJpVc/s1600/10514814_780785298610183_289697080_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WD7FcnnY2OM/U7yr2LVbguI/AAAAAAAACHE/EN3WFkrJpVc/s1600/10514814_780785298610183_289697080_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">that's me in the cool make up and with my happy drink!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m real excited because even though Brazil lost, what a humiliating game, I’ve started prepping today for the two most important concerts of my year in Brazil, so fuck football. First in the beginning of next month we will receive the lovely Natalie Dessay and her husband. And I know, I know I might have bad-mouthed her a little bit here for walking out of opera as if they were a worn out pair unwanted Louboutins. But that was over a year ago so sod it.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YzUYVH9voeA/U7yw-dAi-LI/AAAAAAAACHU/EO7WzilM4ow/s1600/PHOf2c312fe-2b82-11e3-b434-7e7a3f9df7fa-805x453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YzUYVH9voeA/U7yw-dAi-LI/AAAAAAAACHU/EO7WzilM4ow/s1600/PHOf2c312fe-2b82-11e3-b434-7e7a3f9df7fa-805x453.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">She’s doing this lovely, lovely, lovely chanson repertoire and I couldn’t help with cheer and giggle as I saw the great list of Faure chansons I adore listed out! The other ones I must admit I do not know but that’s the great thing about YouTube and that great little program I have in my pc that downloads audios from Youtube. I have over a month to become acquainted with these songs so I can fully appreciate them when Natalie sings them.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I find that to most rewarding because, for instance, even though I loved Jonas’ concert I didn’t know any of the songs he sang, not even one. And even though it was Jonas Kaufmann and he’s like a God, I know I would have enjoyed myself much more had I known the music. Like I enjoyed myself watching Gerry Finley sing Schubert’s <i>Winterreisse.</i>&nbsp;Gosh I can remember like it was yeterday how <i>Gute Nacht</i> just pierced my heart and literally made me cry, he drew freaking tears from me. And I want that experience repeated because I ADORE chanson with an almost scary force, they just speak to me. I’m not a very lieder person but chansons just hit the right spot. It's taste I guess, but they get to me, and to have an actual French person (and not just any person, it’s freaking Natalie Dessay) sing them it’s really something, so I’m super excited. I’m probably going on both days, haven’t decided yet but probably going to both performances.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And then towards the end of next month one of the inspirations of my life nicest people I’ve ever met is coming back. Joyce, the coolest opera singer EVER! I got the news that she was scheduled to sing in São Paulo in August of this year a little bit before going to NYC in October of last year and actually meeting her in person. So I actually got to ask her about that engagement and she told me she was super excited about coming back to Brazil and that the audience was simply superb! But I must say I was expecting a repertoire of opera favorites for this concert and when I saw it I was a bit shocked. Because I’m one of those fans that knows basically everything she sings and then I felt at loss looking through the rep and recognizing very few pieces.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a7VkF8cOtzI/U7yxFnpQKBI/AAAAAAAACHc/2yffyFT93rA/s1600/IMG_4910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a7VkF8cOtzI/U7yxFnpQKBI/AAAAAAAACHc/2yffyFT93rA/s1600/IMG_4910.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joyce being her awesome self!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But no worries, I have already downloaded every single one of the songs, including one by Villa Lobos that I simply loved from an opera called Magdalena “”.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It’s quite cool, this version bellow is sung by a great Brazilian mezzo soprano called Luciana Bueno. I remember the first time I saw her live on stage I was extremely shocked at how good she was, that was because she was playing the first wife in the musical “The King and I” and all of a sudden there’s this huge gorgeous operatic voice amongst the much shier musical theater ones. She was DA BOMB in that musical. Funnily enough this same musical was conducted by my own voice teacher who is all kinds of awesome herself.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But anyways, back to the topic, Joyce’s concert which I’m super excited about plus I’m taking ton of friends to see it and we will fangirl and it will be awesome. From the stuff I do know she is doing only two Drama Queens arias, <i>“Piangero la sorte mia”</i> which I one of my personal favorites so there’s a big YAY for that and <i>“Morte col fiero aspetto”</i> which is also one of my favorites. But I would just <b>DIIIIIE </b>(and this is the seventeen year old ´die´) if he sang <i>Madre Diletta</i>, it’s my favorite track from the whole CD and it turns me into a puddle of feels. Stuff that I didn’t know includes Haydn’s Ariadne of Naxos (I downloaded a version with Vesselina Kasarova posted by my good friend Mike, thanks hon!) and some Santoliquido (had no idea of his existence until today) canzonettas. But I’m still hopeful for operatic encores, SEVERAL, pretty please!! If I can expeculate, what I would love to hear as encores. Some Rossini awesomeness like <i>“Tanti Affetti”</i>, <i>“Una Voce Poco Fa”</i> and <i>“Non Piu Mesta”</i>. Also some Baroque bliss she does so well, like <i>“Ombra mai Fu”</i> or <i>“Lasciami piangere”</i>. Or Mozart, what I wouldn’t give for <i>“Ecco il Punto oooh Vitelia/ Non piu di fiori”</i> or even a simple <i>“Deh Viene non tardar”</i>. If she sang in French I would quite possibly <b>DIE </b>(that seventeen year old DIE again), like <i>“Je suis gris”</i> or ANY aria from <i>Cendrillon </i>(like THAT’s gonna happen).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyhow I’m excited and since I’m SUPER UBER nice I’m posting here the repertoires both are doing f<strike>ollowed by links of the pieces in my favorite versions for us all to get acquainted. </strike>&nbsp;My computer i kind of fucked up right now so I'll post the links when I can.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Natalie's and Laurent's Repertoire</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Gabriel Faure </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Puisqu'Ici Bas Toute Ame (V. Hugo)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Clair de Lune (letra P. Verlaine)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Après un Rêve (R. Bussine) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mandoline (P. Verlaine)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Les berceaux (S. Prudhomme)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Prison (P. Verlaine)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Fleur jetée (A. Silvestre)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Pleurs d'Or (A.V. Samain)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Henri Duparc</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Invitation au Voyage (C. Baudelaire)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Au Pays où se Fait la Guerre (T. Gautier)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Soupir (S. Prudhomme)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">La Vague et la Cloche (F. Coppée)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">La Fuite (T. Gautier)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Francis Poulenc</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Colloque (P. Valéry)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Calligrammes (7 poèmes de G. Apollinaire)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">L'espionne<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mutation<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Vers le sud<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Il pleut<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">La grâce exilée<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Aussi bien que les cigales<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Voyage: Adieu amour nuage qui fuit<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Fiançailles pour Rire (6 poèmes de L. de Vilmorin) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Leo Delibes</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Les Trois Oiseaux (F. Coppée)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Charles-Marie Widor</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Nocturne (A. Dorchain)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Qu'un Songe au Ciel m'Enlève (V. Hugo)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joyce’s Repertoire</b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">HAYDN - Arianna a Naxos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">SANTOLIQUIDO <i>I canti della Sera</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1. L’assiolo canta<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2. Alba di luna sul bosco<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3. Tristezza crepuscolare<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4. L’incontro<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">ROSSINI <i>Beltà crudele</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">La Danza<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">HASSE/HANDEL <i>"Drama Queens”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Morte col fiero aspetto (Antonio e Cleopatra)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Piangerò (Giulio Cesare)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">AMERICAN SONGS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Beautiful Dreamer (Canção de Stephen Foster / Arr. David Krane)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lovely Jimmie (Jerome Kern)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Food for Thought (Heitor Villa-Lobos de “Magdalena”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">ROSSINI Riedi al soglio (<i>Zelmira</i>)</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-29335870775381239362014-07-01T11:18:00.002-06:002014-07-01T11:19:55.675-06:00As my book addiction continues...<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey there world! Aren’t we all loving all these updates? Ah, I have so many news so let’s get to them. I don’t know if I mentioned but I did get into the Vancouver Community College, YAY ME! Unfortunately I won’t be able to go this year because of many reasons. But on a happy note I did start having classes with my voice teacher again last week and so I feel very well looked after. Gosh I had no idea of how much I missed her, she’s so much more than a coach, she’s really one of the most precious friends I have, plus she has such a wonderful soul. Anyway my voice sounds like crap because I haven’t vocalized properly for the past months but it will heal in due time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My birthday is this Thursday and I’m actually going to spend it in São Paulo because I have a voice lesson. I’m going to be 24 and wow, suddenly I feel kinda old, twenty freaking four. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This weekend I did an experiment and went on the famous ‘<i>balada</i>’, that’s the dance clubs here in Brazil. It was nice, I guess. The music kinda irritated me, you see you would have about 30 seconds of the tunes you know and love and sing along to followed by 5 minutes of electronic nonsense. Hey, I’m a very open minded person when it comes to music but that electronic crap is just fucking dumb. How am I supposed to dance to something that doesn’t touch me? Mind you that I did ingest alcohol so my senses were slightly off and still I could not get into the vibe everyone else seemed to be so hooked on. I guess I’m just picky, I know that there are some great (gay) ‘<i>baladas</i>’ which actually play normal music, those awesome 90’s songs and pop songs that I really like so that’s where I wanna go from now on. Plus I was a bit shocked at how the majority of the girls were dressed. Some of them seriously looked like hookers, real time prostitutes plus they were so young. I guess you are thinking I’m picky and old fashioned but I myself was wearing a rather short dress but nothing compared to the extremely high heels (which I find extremely stupid for one to wear at a dance club that has no place whatsoever for you to to sit), butt length mini dresses, shorts and skirts, with the occasional crop top, I seriously felt like a nun. I’m amazed that young women think that this is sexy, exposing SO much of their bodies, I find it extremely vulgar. But anyways, I’m not going to solve the problems of the world nonetheless the lack of self respect most young women in that club have with this post. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In other news I did overdo a little bit last week at the book store buying the grand total of 9 new books. I know I have a disease, I’m a shopaholic. So that’s what I want to dedicate this post of today for, to talk about the 9 books I bought that I haven’t read yet (I did start reading one and I’m already halfway through it, I’ll save the best for last)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As my Agatha Christie obsession continues I cannot seem to be able to walk into a place and not buy if not one of her books. When I went to the supermarket for groceries last week I bought two. <b>The Pale Horse</b>, I do believe they used this story for the series <i>Marple</i> (which is a TV series for Miss Marple the sweet old lady who solves mysteries better than any police detective) but the original one does not involve my mother’s favorite bird watching old lady. For this series (as well as Poirot) they do get some of the stories Christie wrote that don’t involve Poirot or Marple and adapt it inserting either of them. But as for the book it’s apparently set on a country side village in England (aren’t they all?) where the vicar has been assassinated and suddenly many people start getting sick. Intriguing hun? Plus it features one of my favorite sidekicks, Ariadne Oliver who is a detective stories novelist always in search of new inspiration. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaD79wlOPzw/U7LclF3gdqI/AAAAAAAACFc/FUxUP1uYz5I/s1600/ORDEAL-BY-INNOCENCEAPB_jpg_232x500_q95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaD79wlOPzw/U7LclF3gdqI/AAAAAAAACFc/FUxUP1uYz5I/s1600/ORDEAL-BY-INNOCENCEAPB_jpg_232x500_q95.jpg" height="320" width="197" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AyU33Gi8qVc/U7LcnaueuII/AAAAAAAACGE/st_k7Q_15Cc/s1600/towards-zero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AyU33Gi8qVc/U7LcnaueuII/AAAAAAAACGE/st_k7Q_15Cc/s1600/towards-zero.jpg" height="320" width="197" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">Then I bought </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Towards Zero</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">, mind you both of them are in Portuguese. I don’t really like reading translations because normally they are very badly done but I find that whoever translates Agatha Christie for Portuguese is a standing out exception. Just like Pale Horse they also used this story for the series </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Marple </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">but the original does not feature her but a Scotland Yard detective named Battle.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KE41TTgQ5i8/U7LclyI1HmI/AAAAAAAACFw/04JgzGbFdZs/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KE41TTgQ5i8/U7LclyI1HmI/AAAAAAAACFw/04JgzGbFdZs/s1600/images.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When I went to Livraria Cultura last Thursday with far too much time in my hands I got another Christie book but this time in the original language. My collection actually varies from Harper editions bought in the US to 60’s and 70’s editions both in Portuguese and English that belonged to my mother to the L&amp;PM Pocket ones in Portuguese. <b>Ordeal by Innocence</b> was something I had been wanting to read for a while. You see I had this friend who was crazy about Agatha Christie and after he passed away his mom gave away his books to several friends and I picked out a big hard covered one called<i> Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks</i>. This is the sort of book that you have to be a real big fan of Agatha Christie to read and it only makes sense if you are familiar with all her stories which are MANY. So I had read every single one of the books mentioned in the first chapter (before each chapter you have a list of the books you must have read to truly understand it) but one, Ordeal by Innocence so there you have it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Christie aside let’s turn our attention to another lady author I adore. I don’t know if I ever mentioned here but I do LOVE to cook! Ah, it’s one of the utmost joys of my life, I love to go out to buy the ingredients, selecting them one by one, making the dish all by myself while singing opera and then eating it and most importantly feeding the ones I love. And one of my favorite modern novels is in fact <i>Julie &amp; Julia</i>, it inspired the movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. So in this spending spree I was resolute in getting a recipe book. But the thing with recipe books is that I can only get them in Portuguese because of the ingredients, many ingredients in recipes from American books are simply not sold in Brazil so it becomes quite frustrating.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TM8uLg89Fus/U7LcmEUAzeI/AAAAAAAACFs/G_fPhq45QAs/s1600/page_4_thumb_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TM8uLg89Fus/U7LcmEUAzeI/AAAAAAAACFs/G_fPhq45QAs/s1600/page_4_thumb_large.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N1Ud_eeemCM/U7LclI48rWI/AAAAAAAACFg/KmXNIQ1lGG4/s1600/9780307474858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N1Ud_eeemCM/U7LclI48rWI/AAAAAAAACFg/KmXNIQ1lGG4/s1600/9780307474858.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I actually had my mind set on buying Julia Child’s </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mastering the Art of French Cooking</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">because it’s so iconic but the store did not have it. What they did have was a ‘sort of’ translation of those two books called </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A Arte Culinária de Julia Child</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> (which I roughly translate to Julia Child’s Art of Cooking). I’ve decided that just like Julie I’ll be making every single recipe in that book, already got the ingredients for the first soup in the book.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P4hsCiTePWU/U7Lcn_udy9I/AAAAAAAACGI/GX0TOtQ9Raw/s1600/The_great_gatsby_wordsworth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P4hsCiTePWU/U7Lcn_udy9I/AAAAAAAACGI/GX0TOtQ9Raw/s1600/The_great_gatsby_wordsworth.jpg" height="200" width="126" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And then I spotted something that I have a very strong feeling I only bought because it had a beautiful picture of Meryl Streep on the cover in a French market all smiley faced and ‘<i>oh, it’s so good to live in France’</i>. It’s called <b>Minha Vida na França</b>(My Life in France) and it’s a memoires book written by Julia Child about her life in France.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I also got a very thin looking edition of <b>The Great Gatsby</b> because I haven’t seen the movie and apparently everyone knows the story but me. I only bought the thin version because all the others had very ugly covers and I so did not want to own a book with Leonardo DiCaprio’s face on the cover. It’s bad enough that I have a book that has Kristen Steward’s face on it and you all know what I’m talking about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Moving on toward the a more modern sort of literature but always sticking to female writers I bought the book that originated one of my favorite TV series,&nbsp;<b>Sex and the City</b>&nbsp;by Candace Bushnell. It’s so odd to think that when I was younger and first saw this show I was so sure I was just like Charlotte. But now I feel more inclined to agree with Samantha in most things, I wish I had her balls though, she is one self confident lady, but I do have her drive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then I got&nbsp;<b>Confessions of a Shopaholic</b>&nbsp;by Sophia Kinsella because let’s face it, story of my life, right? And I love the movie, it’s so lovely! Although I do know that the original story is actually set in London other than New York City.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-slwJ1k6Mwnc/U7Ldo9KFZ0I/AAAAAAAACGM/uicsivJoHw0/s1600/confessions-of-a-shopaholic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-slwJ1k6Mwnc/U7Ldo9KFZ0I/AAAAAAAACGM/uicsivJoHw0/s1600/confessions-of-a-shopaholic.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-egEFiyffg9A/U7LcnKQrhnI/AAAAAAAACGA/yra5llElecs/s1600/sex-and-the-city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-egEFiyffg9A/U7LcnKQrhnI/AAAAAAAACGA/yra5llElecs/s1600/sex-and-the-city.jpg" height="320" width="203" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And last but most definitely not least book I got was </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fifty Shades of Gray</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> by E.L. James. I have been hearing so much buzz about this book for such a long time that curiosity finally won over after I read the first page. After I left the bookstore I went to a close by Starbucks and started reading it, well, more like devouring it. Very early on you can tell that the book is a page turner and as a matter of fact quite amusing!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For those of you who don’t know, Fifty Shades of Gray actually started out as an adult fanfiction about Twilight. The author then got inspired to write her own story based in both her fantasies and in the fantasies of many, many women around the world. The book was a sellout phenomenon, at one point it was selling one copy per second, per fucking second!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It tells this story about a girl named Anastasia (I find that name gorgeous) who is just graduating college. She’s rather insecure and is the romantic Austen book and a cup of tea kind of girl. I find it interesting how there is very little actual description of how she looks, she’s a burnet, fair skinned, average body, messy haircut but that’s about it. I do find that rather brilliant because that makes it SO easy for the reader to imagine herself living through Anastasia. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVw_dTzOnTo/U7LdyfFoGhI/AAAAAAAACGY/5Up-JYwJAZQ/s1600/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVw_dTzOnTo/U7LdyfFoGhI/AAAAAAAACGY/5Up-JYwJAZQ/s1600/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So she’s agreed to help out her flat mate who got sick and can’t make it to interview this big shot company owner so she goes in her place. Anastasia expects Christian Gray to be a 40 year old man but is socked when she comes face to face with a young twenty something year old Greek God. Handsome, graceful, hot as hell and completely full of himself. You would think she would act extremely meek and shy around him but she actually makes quite bold remarks like “You sound like a control freak” and “So you wanna possess things” <i>You are a control freak</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He’s intrigued by her and starts pursuing her, he asks her out and she’s most of time like <i>“Is this even real? What the hell can he possibly want with me?”</i>. As they get to know each other more and more and liking each other more and more Christian decides to show Ana what he’s into and how all his ‘relationships work’. He’s into BDSM which stands for bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadism/masochism, so he likes to tie up his partners and have his wicked way with them. But don’t worry because it’s all consensual, that’s the fun for him to have the person want to be in this situation, to make the person want to be in this situation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Needless to say that Ana is mortified because she fell for this guy and to make matters worse he wants her to sign this contract that dictates how she has to live her life basically while she is his ‘submissive’. But, the thing is, there is a catch, because Christian also starts falling for her so he bends every single rule in his book to please her. Plus Ana has her protestations in regards to many things in that contract and changes most of them so we are really left with the sexy part and none of that real heavy stuff. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I haven’t finished yet, have about 150 pages to go. Plus it’s a trilogy so I plan on finishing it by Thursday so I can buy the other two then when I go to São Paulo. I did not expect to like this book but I did, it’s fun, it’s funny, it’s very believable in a sense that the heroin is of flesh and blood and could be just anyone which I think is one of the main ingredients of the success of the book. Yes, it does have rather detailed descriptions of their sexual adventures but that doesn’t bother me not even a bit. I mean, I have been reading fanfiction for the past 10 years so I’m more than used to this kind of stuff. And something that delighted me was the fact that the author is really one of those everyday people who writes great stuff for fanfiction and all of the sudden she’s a published author selling millions of books! I did also see a lot of writers scold her work and say it’s garbage and it’s porn and I find that so silly and it's an extreme contradiction&nbsp;since everybody has&nbsp;sex, so what’s the harm in writing about it? We’re in the 21</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">st</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;century for crying out loud!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well so far so good with 50 Shades of Gray, I love it that the name comes of a line Christian says to her about him being 50 shades of fucked up. As I said it’s a very funny book and very hot might I add, especially since now I know that the guy playing Christian is Jamie Dornan, aka the Huntsman from Once Upon a Time.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTPzsJVZ8qs/U7LtWkYFdWI/AAAAAAAACGs/54cg1_MD-lg/s1600/IMG_20140701_131946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTPzsJVZ8qs/U7LtWkYFdWI/AAAAAAAACGs/54cg1_MD-lg/s1600/IMG_20140701_131946.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">there we have it, the collection!&nbsp;</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And so that's it! I think that for my next post I'll be retelling my last day in NYC from February that I haven't covered yet. Dang that was a fun day! Cheers all!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-83513242084124261952014-06-25T14:24:00.003-06:002014-06-25T14:24:39.157-06:00The Ultimate Don Giovanni!<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey all! So how have you all been doing? I’m pretty good, I'm great actually, I have lost so much weight it's insane! After I post this I'm actually going to take my new found hot bootie shopping because everything is sort of baggy and weird on me now. YAY!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But anyways, this post is actually about opera for a change. You see a couple of months ago I went to the movie theater to watch the Royal Opera House’s new production of Don Giovanni. This one was actually in my home town, it wasn’t live (obviously) so they had 4 different times for the opera, Saturday and Sunday at 11 in the morning, Monday at 3 in the afternoon and Tuesday at 7 in the evening, not very good ones but I’ll take what I can get.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I went to the mall all by myself driving my bike. As I’ve said sometimes here I do enjoy going to the opera alone. When you take a friend there’s always that feeling of <i>“Oh my God I hope he likes it.” “Should I explain this part?” “Did he understand that part?” “Is he bored?”</i> and also the apologetic mode comes on automatically for me <i>“Don’t worry, the first act is just about to end. Only 2 more arias and a quintet.” “The interviews are funny, the singers are very nice, trust me.” </i>And if I go alone I can immerse myself in the piece, sit back, relax and watch the whole opera in peace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But of course that didn’t happen right? I did go alone but as for the uninterrupted bliss line of operatic experience, well, it didn’t happen. But I’ll get to that in a second. So I get to the movie theater and am faced with my first problem, the old people. And I don’t mean to be rude, it’s just old people in Brazil and especially in this town are a special breed of impolite and have an inflated sense of self. That’s because there are some pretty stupid laws here that give older people the idea that they can cut in line in front of everyone. According to law every establishment should have an exclusive cashier for senior citizens, pregnant women and handicap people. But the thing was, that cashier was closed and only one girl was selling the tickets, so the old people simply made another line in front of the actual line and cut in in front of absolutely everyone. And every single old person that would show up would prompt their <i>derrières </i>right in front of me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyhow I got to the cinema and they were playing some trailers which made me kind of uncomfortable because there were only old people in that movie theater and the trailers were filled with sex. It’s like watching Game of Thrones with your parents. Trailers aside I really did like what the Royal Opera House came up with for this evening. Because in my very little experience, that was this one time I saw their new production of Les Troyens at the movie theater, it wasn’t very dynamic, there’d just be the opera and nothing playing during the intermissions. But this couldn’t have been more different.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They had this great montage with interviews with all of the singers and showed the rehearsal process and how Kasper Holten, the stage director, came up with the concept for this production. It was about 15 minutes long and it was really cool and very informative. Then we had our host for the evening, none other than the legendary Bryn Terfel! And he was such a great and charming host, as he filled everyone in with the story he also absolutely and completely charmed me. But the overture starts and YAY, it’s Mozart time!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now I love Don Giovanni, it is hands down my favorite Mozart opera. So I almost know the whole thing by heart and let me tell you I was not disappointed at what I saw. The wonderful orchestra of the Royal Opera House took us away from reality with that astounding overture and before it was over the curtains went up. The set was very interesting, it was a construction with some stairs and some doors with two stories, very simple, all white but add to that some truly remarkable projections and you have magic. During the overture some names started appearing of the walls and later we find out that there were 2065 female names by the end of the overture projected on stage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We see Leporello in front of a door on the second floor and he sings his mini aria complaining how the boss always gets all the fun and he, well, doesn’t. Leporello was played by Alex Esposito, I had never heard of him before but he gave a fine performance, very funny and very hands on in making this role physically believable. During his aria he took a chalk from his pocket and started writing ‘Anna’ on the door and there was this perfectly synchronized projection following his hand writing. VERY COOL.&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Don Giovanni opens the door quite literally zipping his pants up and Donna Anna follows him and she’s not the face of one who has been bedded against her will. And you know what? I truly prefer productions that portray Anna as a woman who was seduced and did have mind-blowing sex with Don Giovanni and now wants a second round or something. They flirt and kiss and this was turned into a very hot scene actually. The lady playing Anna, Malin Byström, was absolutely spectacular! She had this gorgeous darkish soprano voice that I would think was too heavy for Mozart but she proved me wrong and delivered vocal heavens! Plus she looked gorgeous!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Taking the role of the Don by storm was my personal favorite baritone for the job, Mariusz Kwiecien. Now you all know I’m a huge fan of Mariusz, apart from being a top notch performer he is one of the sweetest and nicest singers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting (and also one of the most attractive ones). He is just so good as the Don! He was my first Don Giovanni back in 2011 at the Met in HD. I do actually remember the first time I went to NYC going to Lincoln Center and seeing a picture of Mariusz as the Don and thinking <i>“Holy shit, this man is perfection”</i>. Anywho Anna’s dad arrives and kinda ruins the party, she flees. Don Giovanni kills him but again, I’ve seen so many endless versions of this opera all with different takes on how the Don feels about killing the Commendatore. The one I like the most was the one they actually used for this production, he kills the Commendatore but not because he wants to but because he has to and does not feel so great about it afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we have that funny recit to break the ice <i>“Leporello, ove sei?”</i> and the two men flee the scene of the crime. Then Anna arrives with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, the guy looked like he was barely 30, which I find kind of risky when it comes to this role. I’ve seen time and time again young tenors screeching this role thinking it’s right for them because <i>“It’s Mozart!”</i>. I actually had a pretty enlightening conversation about that with Gerry Finley (God bless his heart what a wonderful guy!) a couple of months ago and he pointed out that even though it’s easy to read the music it doesn’t mean that it’s easy to sing it. Well this guy looked young and VERY nervous (you would be too if you were being streamed live to all over the world from the stage of the ROH) but he managed to sound ok, although his nervousness blocked the whole character thing and all I could see was a nervous tenor singing the notes just right. But I’m not a very big fan of tenors as a rule so I might be picking on him too much because he’s the only one in the production for me to pick on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anna gave an absolute show during the duet, such a beautiful voice! Her type of voice is one of my favorite kinds of female voices, I cannot abide super light high sopranos (maybe just Diana Damrau, but she’s a lyric coloratura, right?). Also when Anna comes back she’s sporting this GORGEOUS black overdress that is, excuse the pun, to die for! Ottavio, looked a bit lost and Anna completely torn between processing her feelings towards her midnight stranger to acknowledging her father’s death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_l4xVz5aVoE/U6svy_f2YsI/AAAAAAAACFI/qbs1_0FluEw/s1600/%25C2%25A9BC20140129_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_57+GENS+AS+DONNA+ELVIRA%252C+KWIECIEN+AS+DON+GIOVANNI+%2528C%2529+COOPER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_l4xVz5aVoE/U6svy_f2YsI/AAAAAAAACFI/qbs1_0FluEw/s1600/%25C2%25A9BC20140129_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_57+GENS+AS+DONNA+ELVIRA%252C+KWIECIEN+AS+DON+GIOVANNI+%2528C%2529+COOPER.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that my favorite character in Don Giovanni (and maybe one of my favorite characters in all opera) makes her first appearance. Véronique Gens was playing Donna Elvira, she looked kind of beat up and wet but since she was wearing a sort of rain coat I guess that’s what they were going for. I had never seen this singer before this production and I gathered she’s a mezzo since she was doing the mezzo version. Although her voice wasn’t as powerful as Anna’s she did make up for it with her amazing acting. And again this production read another character just the way I liked it, because some might treat her as a recent conquest of Don Giovanni who is still smitten with him but is able to overcome her feelings by act 2. This one is so not the case and I love it. One of my favorite moments in the first act is when Elvira realizes Giovanni is calling on her (</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Signorina”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">) and she promptly replies </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Don Giovanni! Sei qui, mostro, fellon, nido d’inganni!”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> and in normal productions she would either throw something his way or just hit him. But as this Elvira approached him with her insults it seemed as if his presence drugged her and right after she finished her recit she grabbed him and kissed him. SO COOL! I must confess I’m a fan of passionate stuff and passionate characters so there you go.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoU5T4z1XjI/U6st1n1LFJI/AAAAAAAACE0/SCShkPGJG7U/s1600/DON_G1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoU5T4z1XjI/U6st1n1LFJI/AAAAAAAACE0/SCShkPGJG7U/s1600/DON_G1.png" height="270" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And as we all know she’s so taken with him to trust him again and off he goes away from her. Then we have one of my favorite arias that I actually know by heart and by the way by this point I was mouthing/singing softly along to everything. Damn I love this opera! The little book aria is just so hilarious and I love the way every singer who plays Leporello has their own special way of delivering it. Like Luca Pisaroni who is one of the best Leporellos ever has a very personal way of playing this character that is just so amazing. He’s already said that it is one of his favorite roles (if not THE favorite), he was also my first Leporello back in 2011. But Esposito did a fantastic job and I laughed as he stressed new things and used and abused of his acting chest to bring Leporello to life.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The couple sitting next to me would not stop talking, they were talking about the opera but still it was SO IRRITATING and their comments were SO ridiculous. At this point they were arguing that they thought Leporello was a part of Don Giovanni’s imagination, his conscious. They were basically saying that the Don was Pinocchio and that Leporello was Jiminy Cricket. Plus they saw that I was mouthing along so they started trying to guess the next lines based on the subtitles which was rather pathetic since A- that translation REALLY sucked and B- they clearly did not speak Italian, at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyway after they leave we are brought to Zerlina’s and Masetto’s wedding. Zerlina was played by Elisabeth Watts and Masetto by Dawid Kimberg and they looked so adorable together. Zerlina was much shorter than him but she had feisty air and Masetto was one of those big guys that really can't hurt a fly, kind of Ron Weasley, they looked so cute together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Did I mention that the stage actually spins? And it’s so amazing how much change they can inflict by simply spinning and changing the lights. The Don spots the party and instantly has his eye set on the girl in the white dress, I think he must think it amusing to seduce a girl out of her engagement on the day of her wedding. Bet he has a special list for those, as well as for nuns. It’s cheerful party and as soon as Zerlina spots the Don she’s intrigued, I mean, who wouldn’t be with a guy that attractive undressing you with his eyes, especially when you have an over seized Ron Weasley for a fiancé.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, Don Giovanni invites everyone over to his place for a super duper party just so he can be alone with her Zerlina, you gotta give the guy credit for not measuring expenses in order to bang her. Of course Masetto won’t leave quietly and I think it’s so Amadeus Mozart the bit when he says<i> “Faccia il nostro cavaliere cavaliera ancora te”</i>, like he will ride you like a horse. Wow, ok, slow down cowgirl. Sorry about that, I just love the sexual connotations in this opera and they are so ALL over the place!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then we have that recit followed by <i>“La ci darem la mano”</i> which was one of the first duets I ever sang (said every single female opera singer in the world). I love this duet and it can be done in so many ways and I have to say that again they brought out the exact take on it that I liked. Zerlina is not stupid and gullible, she knows what’s going on and the prospect of being married to a nobleman beats the love and care of peasant Ron Weasley, it just does. The duet was filled with soft touches and promises in part A but as soon as Zerlina cries “<i>Andiam</i>” it escalates real, real quickly and by the end he’s already lifting up her skirts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And it would have totally happened if Donna Elvira hadn’t walked into them and started calling him names like a crazy person. I love it how the Don is not the least affected by her outburst and promptly makes up an excuse as to why she’s making such accusations that A- seem plausible and B- make Zerlina fell great about herself. What a freaking player, hun? And I know I’m getting a little bit out of production here but the last one they did with Joyce as Donna Elvira when she says <i>“Io sono a tempo di salvar questa misera, innocente dal tuo barbaro artiglio”</i> I just loved the way she said ‘misera’ and ‘innocente’ and the way she looks at Zerlina because she kind of spat it as if saying that Zerlina was everything but miserable and innocent. Gotta love Joyce!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another small song I really like is <i>“Fuggi il traditor”</i>, Gens did pretty well and I particularly liked her coloratura they were very well treated. She leaves like the mad woman she is but is sure to take Zerlina along with her. The Don is starting to get uneasy about not being able to finish the deal with the peasant bride but his focus in quickly drawn to the couple Ottavio and Anna. Now this whole scene was done in the most interesting way, while Ottavio wasn’t looking the Don made sure he would hit on and flirt as much as he could with the very willing Anna. Very cool because Ottavio is so darn slow and boring in this production anyway. Well, he is slow and boring in most productions anyways.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eHmYEkzzGoY/U6svygcyQmI/AAAAAAAACFE/ltrLcuwuuv4/s1600/%25C2%25A9BC20140123_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_487+KWIECIEN+AS+DON+GIOVANNI+%2528C%2529+COOPER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eHmYEkzzGoY/U6svygcyQmI/AAAAAAAACFE/ltrLcuwuuv4/s1600/%25C2%25A9BC20140123_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_487+KWIECIEN+AS+DON+GIOVANNI+%2528C%2529+COOPER.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Hm6zOOmAwg/U6stz40KjZI/AAAAAAAACEE/xEVKUVpvESc/s1600/Don-Giovanni-Royal-Opera--008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Hm6zOOmAwg/U6stz40KjZI/AAAAAAAACEE/xEVKUVpvESc/s1600/Don-Giovanni-Royal-Opera--008.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After they’ve had their trio and the Don gives Anna one last hot kiss on her knuckles&nbsp;and departs. Now for her <i>"Don'Ottavio, son morta"</i> Donna Anna has a real interesting moment because only a moment ago she was quite willingly melting under Don Giovanni’s touch and all of the sudden she’s conflicted for the first time. She gives into her more lustful feeling leaving Ottavio with a <i>‘I pity you look’</i> while he wails away one of the most irritating songs ever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know, it’s Mozart, and I know its Don Giovanni aka my favorite Mozart opera, BUT, MA, <i>"Dalla sua pace"</i> irritates me thoroughly. Maybe it’s because since it’s a Mozart aria many tenors from my school thought it was ok for them to try and screech it and that kind of traumatized me. Maybe Mozart wrote this aria like this to really mess up with the tenor because it’s a very difficult piece.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I say this because it wouldn’t be the first time that Wolfie did that, you know that great aria called Come Scoglio from Cosi Fan Tutte? Well, Wolfie wasn’t a big fan of the soprano who played Fiordiligi and he knew she had a habit of rising her head up for high notes and lowering it down for the low notes. That’s why he wrote phrases like <i>"Far che cangi affetto il cor"</i> like this: Far (in middle voice) che (one octave up) can (goes down again) gi (goes up again) affe (down) tto (up) il cor (normal). Just to see her make a fool of herself, and people still ask me why I love Mozart! The guy writes something to fuck up with someone and it still sounds like a goddamn master piece! Mozart is DA man!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, that’s why I find that A - Dalla sua Pace was created to haunt and torment tenors. This tenor in particular as I’ve said before appeared to sweat a lot and was very nervous. Adding to the fact that Ottavio is a total idiot and in this song you can hear how absolutely blind Ottavio is. Although that depends on the production, in this one he looks like a complete fool. And if I'm being totally honest here I don’t think this guy was old enough to be playing this character. There I’ve said it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we go back to the Don who is kind of annoyed by the fact that he hasn’t gotten laid in the past… 8 maybe 12 hours. I do love this little exchange Leporello and the Don have of telling each other the news of what’s happened. They really did seem like best buddies in this production which I find quite good. They get each other and the Don knows that if he wants to get laid he’ll have to throw a party or something. Lucky for him there’s already one happening in his estate as he speaks! This next aria (commonly known as the Champagne Aria) is one of my personal favorites and many people’s favorite I guess. They did this AMAZING effect where the Don is standing in a doorway and the projections start appearing and spinning, it was quite impressive to see in the movie theater and I can only imagine it was even more striking in the opera house. Luckily, there’s a video!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CUOWb40LIuw?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After they leave we meet up with the soon to be married couple Masetto and Zerlina. And here she’s trying to apologize because she almost ditched him for a sexier, healthier and wittier dude. In this production Masetto is also kind of daft, a little slow and Zerlina who is quick and witty takes complete advantage of that to seduce him during her aria Batti, batti o bel Masetto. Although it’s a lovely tune I’ve grown quite tired of it because I’ve been singing it for what it seems like forever but what I think ruins it for me is the fact EVERY SINGLE SOPRANO IN THE PLANET sings this aria. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When she finishes the aria it’s all good until they hear the Don’s voice and she kind of freaks. He’s having the so talked about party! Interestingly enough in this scene in which the Don is supposed to make Zerlina feel ashamed she actually turns the tables around and trick him. I found that most refreshing for when the dance music starts and people start to dance Zerlina takes the Don up stairs. Then our good (slightly boring) trio of Avengers appears all masked up, Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Don Ottavio, they plan to crash the party and expose the Don for what he truly is. They sing about it for about 5 minutes and I must confess that’s not one of the opera’s high lights for me. Leporello spots the trio of masquerades and invites them in, they come in and everything is running as the Don wants. Leporello is distracting Masetto, 99% of the party is drunk and Zerlina is heading upstairs with him with a malicious smile on her face. When she starts to take her clothes off the Don does believe he’s won the lottery until she cries <i>“Gente, aiuto! Aiuto, gente!”</i> and the Don is like <i>“WTF?”</i> and flees. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w427a7cEHWE/U6stxSv1obI/AAAAAAAACDo/uIXx4KxiKN4/s1600/12236816773_f03748de28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w427a7cEHWE/U6stxSv1obI/AAAAAAAACDo/uIXx4KxiKN4/s1600/12236816773_f03748de28.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FYrZAUN846A/U6st1wQq2xI/AAAAAAAACEo/4Q_CFnqbIqU/s1600/don-giovanni-house-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FYrZAUN846A/U6st1wQq2xI/AAAAAAAACEo/4Q_CFnqbIqU/s1600/don-giovanni-house-008.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The boring trio takes this opportunity to reveal their true identity and starts throwing insults all over the place directed at the Don. But he is too clever and quickly grabs Leporello saying he was the one who was trying to have his way with Zerlina. At this point everyone is singing insults to the Don saying his mask has finally come off ,<i>traditore</i>, <i>scellerato </i>amongst other names are used and seeing that there’s no way out the Don flees.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YtshBLmhy6I/U6st2d4UVzI/AAAAAAAACEs/hTN_d5iyRTM/s1600/hot-ticket-don-giovanni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YtshBLmhy6I/U6st2d4UVzI/AAAAAAAACEs/hTN_d5iyRTM/s1600/hot-ticket-don-giovanni.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">End of act one. I didn’t comment more about the couple sitting a few chairs from me who insisted in talking throughout the whole thing but let me just make it clear that they wouldn’t shut it for a minute. People in the movie theater were quite mad. But anyhow, at intermission we had this wonderful interview with Kasper Holten and even more wonderful because Bryn was conducting it. It was really a shame that this wasn’t live because live stuff does give me butterflies in my stomach knowing that it’s happening at that moment but I guess I should be thankful that it had reached me somehow in Brazil, nonetheless in my home town.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The interview was again very fun and lighthearted. I do LOVE Kasper’s work and especially when he’s given the opportunity to work in a piece he truly LOVES like last year with Eugene Onegin that he did a masterpiece and now with Don Giovanni. You can see that the guy knows the piece inside out and has been thinking about each of those characters for years and now he’s given the chance to show his view and his take on the Don Juan masterpiece.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They took some questions from twitter and since it’s been almost two months I don’t really remember them. But I do remember one directed to Bryn asking if he would be tempted to play the Don if he did this production and he said “No”. But not because of the production but because he never felt he was the right person to play this role, he felt much more comfortable playing Leporello. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well act two and I find myself another seat away from the talkative couple. But as soon as they start their chitchat this man turns around and raves at them to shut the fuck up. It was so glorious! I loved that man! Even though I heard him say, <i>“Oh, I don’t know. I like this opera but I like operas that have more orchestra like La Traviata. This one has barely any orchestra”</i> and <i>“Oh yes, Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca are both from Russia”</i>. I always say that if you don’t know stuff don’t say anything, you will sound STUPID. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">Anyhow, this first part of the second act is one of my favorites! So the Don is now having to persuade Leporello to stick around but Leporello won’t have any of it. The Don then offers him some money and Leporello is quickly back to his side. But he does plead to the Don to <i>“Purché lasciam le donne” </i>(So long as we leave the women alone) and the Don’s response is one of my favorite line in the whole opera <i>“Lasciar le donne! Pazzo! Lasciar le donne! Sai ch’elle per me son necessarie più pan che mangio, più dell’aria che spiro!”</i> (Leave the women? Idiot! Leave the women! Don’t you know they are more necessary to me than the air that I breathe or the bread that I eat?) to which Leporello replies <i>“E avete core d’ingannarle poi tutte?</i>” (And still you deceive all of them?) and the Don simply says <i>“È tutto amore. </i></span><i>Chi a una sola è fedele verso l’altre è crudele: io, che in me ento sì esteso sentiment, vo’ bene a tutte quante: le donne poi, che calcolar non sanno, il mio buon natural chiamano inganno.”</i> <span lang="EN-US">(I do it becaue I love them! Who is faithful to one is cruel to the others. I’m a man whose heart is so large that I love all of them, Women simply don’t understand me. They think that my natural generosity is some sort of deceit.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And even though I laugh and go “son of a bitch” every time I hear that recit, I also get it. He is the kind of person that can’t really compromise to only one person and I get that because one of my best friends is just like that. She grows bored of having the same person and needs to constantly change, in today’s world that’s really ok, but back then things were more complicated. And the Don had to lie in order to get what he wanted, do you know how many girls he would have bedded if he’d been honest and said he only wanted to spend the night with them? A lot of women still but certainly not 2065. I know I might sound like a horrible person defending Don Giovanni but whatever, I don’t care!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XLk1IACGCzk/U6stxiacuCI/AAAAAAAACDw/hFWaIe0h5Rs/s1600/12237033194_23568fe3c0_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XLk1IACGCzk/U6stxiacuCI/AAAAAAAACDw/hFWaIe0h5Rs/s1600/12237033194_23568fe3c0_b.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, the Don now needs Leporello to pretend that he is in fact the Don to distract Donna Elvira while the actual Don seduces her chamber maid. This trio is truly hilarious, it consists in Leporello being out there dressed as the Don mouthing what the Don is saying to Donna Elvira and her in the balcony having an inner battle as to what to do, should I stay or should I go? I think the music written for this is so gorgeous. The clash between Donna Elvira’s melancholy doubts, the Don’s false declarations of affection and Leporello’s attempts to restrain his laugher is truly the work of genius. Mozart, God bless his heart!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One thing that did disappoint me a little bit was the recit right after this trio when Leporello pretends to be Don Giovanni to a very willing Donna Elvira. He hid more than he hit on her and that frustrated the scene for me a little bit because along with the trio it’s one of my favorite moments in the opera. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After Leporello and Donna Elvira leave the Don is alone by the balcony and starts to serenade. Seriously, if a guy like that ever sang <i>“Deh viene alla finestra”</i> to me I don’t even dare to think what I would do. It’s one of my favorite arias in this opera, my favorite for the Don DEFINETLY. It’s smooth and it’s full of promise and contained passion. And Mariusz is like utter perfection singing this, he IS the Don. Charm and charm and charm and you’re lost! What was most certainly&nbsp;unnecessary&nbsp;was that the chamber maid came down the stairs while he sang to her and at the end of the aria&nbsp;she took all her clothes off and was stark naked on stage. That did win some gasps from the audience and God why make the lady take her clothes off? Just to show how persuasive Don Giovanni can be? If she’s grabbed him and kissed him or made some sort of let’s do it gesture it would have sent the same message. I don’t know, I think that since this is set in Spain I just don’t see any Spanish woman doing that. Maybe the Italians would do that but not Spanish women, they are very proud and far too self-certain to have to resort to taking their clothes off to attract the attention of a gentleman. Italians are more careless in that matter and I don’t mean it in a bad way, what I mean is that Italians would have totally have been carried by the heat of the moment and take their clothes off like that in front of him on the street. But the Spanish women would have probably gestured for him to come up and THEN taken her clothes off. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways as we all know the Don’s rondevu is cut short by the annoying Masetto and the naked girl is kept in the corner covering herself with her own dress. Anyways, the Don pretends to be Leporello and to be fighting for Masetto’s cause to kill the Don. But the moment he turns around the Don beats him up and flees. Zerlina finds her poor, poor, stupid fiancé and tell him he’ll make him feel better with her magic medicine (aka I’ll let you touch my boobs and I’ll kiss you wherever you want). Vedrai Carino is another lovely aria that I know back and forth and am oh of tired of listening to because everyone thinks it’ alright to sing it. But anyways…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-15rhELlzxgI/U6st1FP9h-I/AAAAAAAACEQ/Lccg_7lQrU4/s1600/Don-Giovanni-at-the-Royal-009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-15rhELlzxgI/U6st1FP9h-I/AAAAAAAACEQ/Lccg_7lQrU4/s1600/Don-Giovanni-at-the-Royal-009.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then we go back to Donna Elvira and Leporello who undoubtfully have been having their fun. But Leporello is quite tired of her and is eager to be free of her affections. This is one of those Mozart things that starts off as a duet, then another duet and before you know it it’s a huge sextet with complicated lines for everyone involved. And as more characters appear each one has a door and the projections come in a way as if they are all walking in hallways, it’s really quite amazing. You see as Leporello is trying to escape Masetto grabs hold of him and Donna Elvira starts to plead in his defense. But the other members of the sextet are not as forgiving and want “Don Giovanni” dead. Seeing no way out Leporello reveals his true identity to everyone’s surprise and to Donna Elvira’s misery. I do pity her, poor woman. Sometimes I’m even led to believe that she knew that it wasn’t Don Giovanni all along but living a little fantasy for a bit is better than sitting alone in her room. Well that really depends on the production.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After this fun sextet everybody comes at Leporello with fifteen hundred stones accusing him of doing the things the Don did as well as the other things the Don did discussed as Leporello, quite a lot of stuff. But Leporello wouldn’t be working for a man such as Don Giovanni if he wasn’t cunning and before you know it after uttering some confusing excuses he flees like the wind. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then we go back to tenor terror. I’m sorry I might be sounding rather mean and the guy wasn’t all that bad but I felt he was not ready for this kind of job. Not ready for such a role in such a house in such circumstances. I’m not even gonna comment on the aria, let’s just skip that because that’s also not my favorite piece of music ever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we do get some juicy singing from Donna Elvira and she did such a marvelous job. This aria is absolutely heart breaking, a woman clearly so in love with a man she knows will never feel the same for her. And still she loves him and seeks him, it’s very sad and when translated into music absolutely gorgeous. This is definitely one of those arias I would LOVE to sing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCzSizZO4vo/U6stw3rhIXI/AAAAAAAACDg/ffnX6zDWNdE/s1600/12236800133_5ab03a1d16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCzSizZO4vo/U6stw3rhIXI/AAAAAAAACDg/ffnX6zDWNdE/s1600/12236800133_5ab03a1d16.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When Donna Elvira leaves Leporello appears to meet Don Giovanni next to a cemetery. As they tell each other what’s happened they can hear a sinister voice coming from the graveyard. While Leporello wets his pants the Don is quite intrigued. In this production they have a bust of the Commendatore as the vessel from which he communicates with the Don in this scene. Even though Leporello is scared half to death he does as his master commands and invites the Commendatore for dinner in the behalf of his master. The Don isn’t half amused by all this and actually throws the bust from the second floor it comes apart in a million pieces on stage. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f-IitSDQZ1g/U6st1LsO7EI/AAAAAAAACEY/7iKXHxCDq_A/s1600/don-giovanni-009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f-IitSDQZ1g/U6st1LsO7EI/AAAAAAAACEY/7iKXHxCDq_A/s1600/don-giovanni-009.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On the original libretto the Don and Leporello leave so Donna Anna can come in and deliver her big aria. But in this most intriguing production the Don stays behind and watches the exchange between Anna and Ottavio. While Ottavio I trying to persuade her to think about their engagement Anna is resolute in not thinking in anything but her father’s death. But in this production it’s quite different because even though she’s indeed thinking about her father she’s also still pondering on her encounter with the Don. So after he shoos Ottavio away and starts singing her aria the Don appears and yet again wants to draw her near to him. But it is at this point that she realizes he is not what she needs, he is not what he wants. He was necessary for her to open up her eyes to see that there’s so much more out there and that she could make her choices herself. I find this one of the best interpretations of this aria/moment and yet this is the first time I’ve seen it used. And by the way, the singer was amazing. What a magnificent voice, she was simply DIVINE! She got quite an ovation and well deserved!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oNBHeMaAWN8/U6styBTvvGI/AAAAAAAACD4/JOoAiacgHt0/s1600/2.%25C2%25A9BC20140127_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_412-BYSTROM-AS-DONNA-ANNA-KWIECIEN-AS-DON-GIOVANNI-C-COOPER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oNBHeMaAWN8/U6styBTvvGI/AAAAAAAACD4/JOoAiacgHt0/s1600/2.%25C2%25A9BC20140127_DON_GIOVANNI-RO_412-BYSTROM-AS-DONNA-ANNA-KWIECIEN-AS-DON-GIOVANNI-C-COOPER.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Finally last scene and we are back at the Don’s estate where he is dinning. We have that whole scene where he eats and Leporello is starving and he boasts at all life’s pleasures etc… Donna Elvira appears, she wants to give him another chance, she’s so in love but he’s rude and kind of an ass to her. And again, she can’t really change him because she feel for who he is, if he does change he will not be the man she feel for therefor she is condemned to suffer. She leaves just in time for the Commendatore to arrive. From the many, many interpretations of this scene that I’ve seen this has to be one of the best. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They don’t even come face to face, the Don is on ground floor while the Commendatore is right above him on the first floor. They have their exchange and Leporello pleads and pleads for his master to stop. The idea of this was that in this end the Don wouldn’t be sent to hell by a ginormous fireball but would go to his personal version of hell, to be alone. As the scene proceeds all the projections of names start to fade, Leporello leaves and even the Commendatore. At the end he is in hell, he is alone, nothing around him but plain white from the stage. He gets to his knees and cries out in the moment where he should be engulfed by the fires of hell but nothing happens and he is alone. He looks at the audience and you can see that this loneliness is worse than any other punishment for the man who has broken the hearts of 2065 women. The End!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNZ_06VgjjQ/U6stygHd3nI/AAAAAAAACD8/dBSzqcY3_pg/s1600/6a00d834ff890853ef01a51161f19a970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNZ_06VgjjQ/U6stygHd3nI/AAAAAAAACD8/dBSzqcY3_pg/s1600/6a00d834ff890853ef01a51161f19a970c-800wi.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuWm9hEf8Dk/U6st2GP4hjI/AAAAAAAACEk/DmyvUBIAFFo/s1600/edaff78c-3d22-4e89-95ec-75ede0233b66-460x276.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuWm9hEf8Dk/U6st2GP4hjI/AAAAAAAACEk/DmyvUBIAFFo/s1600/edaff78c-3d22-4e89-95ec-75ede0233b66-460x276.jpeg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Holy shit, that was the very BEST production of Don Giovanni I’ve ever seen! So incredible, the crowd went wild and I was delirious! It was really quite an experience. I love the ROH, after the Met it’s my favorite Opera House. Wow, this post is SO ENORMOUS! It took long enough to write I can tell you that. Well I’m gonna be off now, thanks for reading! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-2210847594370781112014-06-17T14:12:00.000-06:002014-06-17T14:12:25.573-06:009 things you might not know about opera<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Y’all know that I’m crazy about opera and have been very lucky to have seen some pretty major stuff. But sometimes we, both opera lovers and opera singers in the making, forget that our world is kinda far from most people’s reality. Let me explain myself a little better, since we are always in contact with people who have some knowledge about the art form or work with it sometimes we assume that people in general know things, but they don’t. And this is not a critique to those people, not at all. Why am I saying this? Well over the last couple of years I’ve successfully been turning my best friends into opera fans. And some of the questions they’ve asked I sincerely thought were common knowledge, but they’re not. So I decided to make a list of some of the main basic things I get asked about opera a lot along with some fun videos to illustrate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">1- </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Opera Singers do not use microphones when singing in an opera house</b></span><span lang="EN-US"><b>.</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> That question I get asked a lot, I remember I was chatting to a friend of a friend during the intermission of Don Giovanni and he was finding it hard to believe that the singers weren’t using microphones. So traditionally opera singers NEVER use microphones when performing an opera in an opera house or doing a recital in an opera house or in a concert hall. We are taught from a very early state that our most timid sounds have to be heard by the deafest of old ladies sitting way in the back of the house. Being heard without a microphone has a lot to do with the singer but also a lot to do with the space he’s performing in. Most opera houses and concert halls have been through meticulous acoustic treatment in order for the sound of the voice or any instrument to travel to every seat in the house. But of course there are exceptions, when doing outdoor concerts (like the famous concerts the Three Tenors did) one must use a microphone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is a video of one of the most famous opera singers nowadays, Anna Netrebko singing in an outdoor concert using a microphone but then ditching it. It’s pretty funny!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/yVQNVoc2_Og/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/yVQNVoc2_Og&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/yVQNVoc2_Og&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another case singers might use a microphone is when the opera house is doing a recording or a live broadcast of the opera. But those microphones are used only to get the sound and transmit it through the radio or the movie theaters, it’s never used to enhance the size of the voice inside the opera house. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">2 – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>There are subtitles available in every opera house nowadays.</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"> Many people come up to me and tell me they’d like to go to the opera but they fear they’d be bored because they don’t understand Italian/German/French. It came as an utter shock to me to realize that so many people did not know that opera houses do have the translations of the text available. Most houses have a thin screen way up above the stage where you can see the translations to what’s being said on stage on the language of the country you are in. The guys at the Metropolitan Opera House had a pretty hard time implementing that kind of gadget because their musical director, James Levine, simply said “Over my dead body there will be translations hanging on my stage” (I’m paraphrasing it, I don’t remember the exact words he said). So the Met invented an amazing translation system that is quite perfect for highly cosmopolitan cities like New York. So every seat has a digital screen in front of them, there you can choose whichever language you want for your subtitles, English, German or Spanish, or the language the opera is in (Italian, French, Russian and so on…). Or if you are a purist and don’t want subtitles you don’t even have to worry about glancing sideways and catching a glimpse of your neighbor’s subtitles because the screens are made for their content only to be seen from certain angles. So even if your neighbor is using his subtitles, you won’t be able to see them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another cool insight about the Met’s subtitles is that there are actually two people every single night who actually operate the subtitles system. So it’s not automatic, it’s hand operated in case they slow down the tempo or pick it up the subtitles will always accompany the opera to perfection! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">3. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Opera is not an unreachable art form fit only to the rich</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">. I know most opera tickets can be pretty expensive, but not all of them. The Metropolitan Opera for instance has an amazing student ticket program that sells tickets to college students for really cheap prices. Plus there is the amazing Family Circle at the Met where prices vary from $40,00 to $2,00. Plus there are $10 rush tickets being sold at the Met on week days 10 minutes before the performances and that also happens at Carnegie Hall and I imagine happens in a lot of other houses. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Here in Brazil students and senior citizens pay half the price of the ticket to any opera performance or concert. And I gather there are many other opera houses who have special sales for tickets. It might seem as if I’m highlighting the Metropolitan Opera too much but that’s only because I have been there and know a lot about this particular house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">4. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>There can be as many stagings of the same opera as you can possibly imagine</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">. Many people tend to think that opera productions run about just like musicals such as The Lion King, there is only one version of the staging and that’s the one that is done all over the world. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Both things couldn’t be more different. First of all in opera you don’t have to buy the rights to the music since the work becomes public domain after 100 years of the death of the author (which is the case of most of the standard repertoire). In opera the stage director can come up with whatever concept of costumes, when and where it is going to be set, sets and even the singer’s interpretation as he wishes, the sky is the limit. What cannot be changed under ANY circumstance is the music. In opera you can’t change anything about the music, not even a single note, the music is always the same, immortal. Same goes for the lyrics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There’s a pretty funny story about a musical theater stage director who went to direct his first opera at the Met last year. He was in a technical stage rehearsal along with his creative team and the musical director and his team. And turned out that there wasn’t enough instrumental music to cover his set change and so he turned to the conductor and said “Just double the measures then” and there was a silent gasp and dead silence as the entire Met Opera stared daggers at him in horror. The opera in this case was Verdi’s Rigoletto one of the most traditional pieces in the opera repertoire so you can’t just double the measures. This production however was quite good, it was set in Las Vegas, take a look at the video bellow. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-NM1gluMq28?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">5. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Some girls play boys</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. This is another thing I thought in my imagination that was common knowledge, our famous trouser roles. Trouser roles (or pants roles) is a term used to talk about male roles that have been written for the female voice. Most of the time mezzo sopranos sing this kind of role, they are usually young man and sometimes very naïve but most of the time very true of heart (with the exception of Nero of Rome I guess). These roles can also be taken by counter tenors, those are guys who sing with a ladies’ voice. But what is really great about trouser roles, apart from all the incredible musical effects that are brought to the table, is the amazing ability of the female singers to convincingly play men and make us forget for a while that they are actually women.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJgBFSvyqM/U6CaKAMBylI/AAAAAAAACCc/0fu8OC-9dwg/s1600/maxresdefault+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJgBFSvyqM/U6CaKAMBylI/AAAAAAAACCc/0fu8OC-9dwg/s1600/maxresdefault+(2).jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k4guPG-4tsU/U6CaAV4nf_I/AAAAAAAACCU/KfZrtOZv89I/s1600/zurich_sesto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k4guPG-4tsU/U6CaAV4nf_I/AAAAAAAACCU/KfZrtOZv89I/s1600/zurich_sesto.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IJ3RilIEC68/U6CaM3WebuI/AAAAAAAACCk/WR6mGeNeDSA/s1600/InFigarolg10107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IJ3RilIEC68/U6CaM3WebuI/AAAAAAAACCk/WR6mGeNeDSA/s1600/InFigarolg10107.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a></div>&nbsp; <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeNkj7wa1YQ/U6CaW67XvII/AAAAAAAACCs/3sbN0FTg5Yc/s1600/Ner%C3%B3n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeNkj7wa1YQ/U6CaW67XvII/AAAAAAAACCs/3sbN0FTg5Yc/s1600/Ner%C3%B3n.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>These are all ladies playing guys, way above we have Sarah Connolly as Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, then Vesselina Kasarova as Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, the Joyce DiDonato as Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and finally Alice Coote as Nero in La Incoronazzione di Poppea&nbsp;</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My little sister is a cosplayer and she’s done her fair share of male cosplays. I showed her these two clips bellow and she didn’t realize that they were women until I told her. The clip bellow is of Sarah Connolly as Giulio Cesare in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/5sm7_C2y3aA/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/5sm7_C2y3aA&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/5sm7_C2y3aA&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">6. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>To become an opera singer people have to study up to 10 years before hitting the stage.</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"> People have this delusional notion that a singer has a natural gift and just sings their heart out without much preparation. The natural gift thing is great if you are lucky enough to have it, but in being an opera singer that counts as 5% of the package. Opera singers need to be excellent musicians, after all we are dealing with the greatest composers of all time, you simply cannot have a singer who can’t read music or accompany a musical score. Learn languages, in opera the pronunciation is paramount, sometimes if your pronunciation isn’t up to the standards you can get fired. Opera singers also need to be outstanding actors because they are, after all, acting on a stage just like in a play. And most importantly a singer must practice, just like an athlete, every single day. That’s why some people say that opera is the equivalent of the Olympics of singing, because it’s hard and it’s so NOT about just having a pretty voice and a God given gift.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">There’s this wonderful quote by Joan Sutherland that I think says it all </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><i>“One is just given a talent, and it’s one’s duty to make the most of it”.</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"> Being an opera singer is real hard work all the time, even after you start your career. Especially after you start your career!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">7. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>There are operas being composed as we speak!</b> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">People seem to associate “opera” with “old” and true, most of the operas being done nowadays are by composers like Puccini, Verdi and Mozart who have left this world quite a while ago. But there are also living breathing composers who are getting their works performed in big time opera houses today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For instance, we have the amazing “Dead Man Walking” by Jake Heggie which tells the story of a nun who decides to become the confessor of a man on death row. You think that name sounds familiar? It’s because it’s based on the true story of sister Helen, who wrote a book about it and also had her story told in an Academy Award winning movie back in the 90’s. Plus the music is so gorgeous, Jake Heggie is a fantastic composer with the most gorgeous sense of singing line that always keeps us on the edge of our seats. Here’s a little musical treat from this opera.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/RIMXdaTzxr0?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another modern opera that has just last year had her North America debut is Nico Muhly’s “Two Boys”. It’s also based on a true story that happened a little over 10 years ago. It’s an opera about the dangers of the internet chat rooms and what can happen if you get sucked in. It’s a mystery story, sort of a detective story about a 16 year old boy found in a crime scene soaked with blood of a 12 year old dead boy. As the opera unfolds you learn how the boy was utterly manipulated by people at chat rooms to do something completely out of character, like murder. It’s pretty cool.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">8 – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Forget about stereotypes most professional opera singers are just like you and me</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">. For me the two worst images that are sold of an opera singer are that they are unhealthy overweight people that just “park and bark” (stand and sing) and that they are arrogant and won’t give anyone the time of day. Things have changed so much! There was a time when singers were not required to look the part and sometimes not even to act so much, all that was important was the sound. But nowadays with all the major changes people have been through the public wants more. The sound still has to be beautiful but they also want a Violetta (the heroin of La Traviata) who looks like a courtesan who has pneumonia. As the world changes so does opera, now we have High Definition cameras pointing at the faces of our singers being transmitted live all across the globe, changes had to be made, and they were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Take opera singer Lisette Oropesa for instance, she’s a young soprano with a very fantastic career who sings at the Met all the time. She’s also a runner, if I’m not mistaken she runs every day. Once she sang the National Anthem at the opening of a marathon and then ran it! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRnPLdAsDo4/U6CghyjYvkI/AAAAAAAACDE/ih-DAIA5qRQ/s1600/10297893_10203131939446621_3756975642033892962_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRnPLdAsDo4/U6CghyjYvkI/AAAAAAAACDE/ih-DAIA5qRQ/s1600/10297893_10203131939446621_3756975642033892962_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This picture is a clear example of how amazing and receptive opera singers can be. It's a picture of one of the greatest opera singers nowadays, Joyce DiDonato, with a bunch of friends of mine who adore opera after her performance in La Cenerentola at the Met last month</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As for the singer’s attitude, I’m not saying that all of the singers are nice. But in my experience I’ve only had great things to say about the way opera singers have treated me. Almost all of them were truly interested in what I had to say and I actually got to talk a lot to them. They are flesh and bone people who, if they are not too tired or late, love to hear feedback so fresh out of the performance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">9 – </span><b>You can experience operas from all over the world with one click</b><span style="font-size: x-small;">. Many opera houses like the Royal Opera House in London and the Metropolitan Opera are streaming live their operas at the movie theaters. Other opera houses like Glyndebourne and the Vienna State Opera stream their opera online, and those streams are most of the time completely free of charge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There are also SEVERAL radio transmissions from operas from all over the world. I remember I was quite happy to have been able to hear Cendrillon from Barcelona in the beginning of this year through the radio station website. And also to hear my utmost favorite Tosca (Sondra Radvanovsky) sing the role live through the radio several times during Christmas time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Opera houses all over the world have been making an extra effort to reach out to people by joining social networks such as Facebook, twitter, Youtube and even Tumblr. For instance the Met did a cocktail competition for the opening of the 2012/2013 season through Facebook. You had to make up a cocktail and the most voted would get first rate tickets to see L’Elisir D’Amore. And the Royal Opera House just did a stage director’s diaries series with their artistic director Kasper Holten about their new Don Giovanni production, it’s got 11 or so videos of Kasper filmed throughout the process of rehearsals until opening night. Another great thing the ROH did just about a year ago was have an entire day being streamed live online of everything that happens at the opera house, stage rehearsals, master classes, scene rehearsals, orchestra rehearsals, classes, the works!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLtfU7jEzuY/U6CfflXgNII/AAAAAAAACC8/MVxXpA6TCZs/s1600/12071919156_909ded83dc_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLtfU7jEzuY/U6CfflXgNII/AAAAAAAACC8/MVxXpA6TCZs/s1600/12071919156_909ded83dc_z.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">rehearsals of ROH's Don Giovanni</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You see? We’re not so different you and me! So give opera a chance, I’m sure you’ll love it!</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cheers people!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-92053114129169488042014-05-29T16:15:00.000-06:002014-05-29T16:15:12.165-06:00Get to Know Me Uncomfortably Well<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Shame on my person! Guys, I'm sorry! It's ridiculous because I've written like 3 different posts and wasn't able to finish not even one of them! Well this is gonna be another fun 'who am I' kind of post. I got the idea from Tumblr place where I've been spending far too much time in but it was very fun answering the questions. Enjoy! ;)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">1. What is your middle name? Zogaib</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2. How old are you? 23<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3. What is your birthday? 03/07/1990<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4. What is your zodiac sign? Cancer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">5. What is your favorite color? Red<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">6. What is your lucky number? 7<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7. Do you have any pets? Nop<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">8. Where are you from? Brazil<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">9. How tall are you? 1,70cm<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">10. What shoe size are you? 8 and a half<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? About 30, maybe 40<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">12. Favorite authors? Jane Austen, Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare (I love me some British literature)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">13. What talents do you have? I’m a pretty good singer haha<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">14. Are you psychic in any way? I don’t see or hear anything but I do feel chills all of a sudden<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">15. Favorite song? IMPOSSIBLE<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">16. Favorite movie? Love Actually<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">17. Who would be your ideal partner? Probably someone as intense as me but with a soft, sweet side<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">18. Do you want children? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">19. Do you want a church wedding? Not really, I wouldn’t mind but it’s not really necessary<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">20. Are you religious? I do believe in God and love him very much but I’m not a church person<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Yes…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">22. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law? Not that I can recall, no not really haha<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">23. Have you ever met any celebrities? I’ve met a bunch of opera singer celebrities<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">24. Baths or showers? Depends on my mood<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">25. What color socks are you wearing? None at all, I’m wearing Cinderella flip flops<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">26. Have you ever been famous? No, I don’t think so…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? Not really<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">28. What type of music do you like? I like good and well executed music<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No but that’s definitely on my bucket list!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Just one<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">31. What position do you usually sleep in? On my back but I do toss and turn A LOT during the night<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">32. How big is your house? Quite big<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">33. What do you typically have for breakfast? A HUGE mug of coffee, an one egg omelet with mushrooms and some healthy cereal with milk or yogurt<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">34. Have you ever fired a gun? No but I would love to try sometime<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">35. Have you ever tried archery? Same answer as above<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">36. Favorite clean word? Butterfly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">37. Favorite swear word? Shit<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep? About 30, 35 hours I think<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">39. Do you have any scars? Yes, one on my back thanks to a butcher doctor who removed a spot there and fucked the place up and one on my right knee for when my dog scared me half to death and I feel <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? Not that I know of, my sister has a collection of those though <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">41. Are you a good liar? Yes, yes I am<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">42. Are you a good judge of character? Most of the times<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? Yes, in Portuguese it’s kind of hard but I do have a very good American Accent and a very convincing British accent for English<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">44. Do you have a strong accent? In Portuguese no, but it really depends to whom I’m talking to when it comes to English<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">45. What is your favorite accent? Probably British<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">46. What is your personality type? Strong, friendly, sincere, funny, direct and bold<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? This gorgeous dress I got for a wedding, it’s an absolute dream in light blue<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">48. Can you curl your tongue? Yeap<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">49. Are you an innie or an outie? I sincerely do not know what that is<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">50. Left or right handed? Right<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">51. Are you scared of spiders? Nop<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">52. Favorite food? Food<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">53. Favorite foreign food? Sushi<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">54. Are you a clean or messy person? Clean most of the time<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">55. Most used phrase? Probably “Oh my God!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">56. Last book you’ve read? I just finished reading the sweetest book called “The Jane Austen Book Club” by Karen Joy Fowler<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">57. How long does it take for you to get ready? About an hour<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">58. Do you have much of an ego? I do have one don’t really care about it though<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Suck<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">60. Do you talk to yourself? A LOT<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">61. Do you sing to yourself? ALL THE TIME<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">62. Are you a good singer? Hell yeah, if I may say so myself <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">63. Biggest Fear? End up doing something I don’t love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">64. Are you a gossip? Kind of<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">65. Best dramatic movie you've seen? King’s Speech is absolutely incredible <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">66. Do you like long or short hair? Long<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">67. Can you name all 50 states of America? No, I can barely name the 24 of my own country! haha<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">68. Favorite school subject? History and Math<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">69. Extrovert or Introvert? Extrovert<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">70. Have you ever been scuba diving? No but that’s another thing I would love to do<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">71. What makes you nervous? Not being in control<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">72. Are you scared of the dark? I used to be until a good 5 years ago before I started living alone, now I’m not <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Sometimes, depends on the person<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">74. Are you ticklish? Not at all<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">75. Have you ever started a rumor? Not that I can remember, probably no<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? Yes and it’s fun<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">77. Have you ever drank underage? Yes, who hasn’t?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">78. Have you ever done drugs? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">79. Who was your first real crush? A boy from my class when I was 12<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">80. How many piercings do you have? I have my ears pierced but that’s it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">81. Can you roll your Rs? Of course I can, I’m an opera student for Christ sakes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">82. How fast can you type? Rather fast<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">83. How fast can you run? Rather fast<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">84. What color is your hair? Black<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">85. What color are your eyes? Dark brown<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">86. What are you allergic to? Nothing that I know of<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">87. Do you keep a journal? I used to when I was in school but now I only have a blog<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">88. What do your parents do? My dad is a retired army general and my mum administrates a company<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">89. Do you like your age? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">90. What makes you angry? Stupidity<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">91. Do you like your own name? Yes, it’s lovely<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? I’ve always loved the name Emma<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? It doesn’t really matter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">94. What are your strengths? I’m determined, optimistic, hard working and fun<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">95. What are your weaknesses? I’m scared to take chances<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">96. How did you get your name? It was my uncle’s ex girlfriend’s name, my mum really liked her and she absolutely loved the name<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">97. Were your ancestors royalty? No…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">98. What are you currently reading? Apart from an embarrassing number of fanfictions that are updated with no haste at all, I’m just finished today reading “The Jane Austen Book Club”. I’m also reading Rick Riordan’s “The Serpent’s Shadow” (that’s the third and last in the Kane Chronicles collection) and George R. R. Martin’s “Clash of Kings” (that’s the second on the Game of Thrones collection) AND Agatha Christie’s “The Labors of Hercules”. I’m thoroughly incapable of reading one book at a time. I also have a very good translation of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin in my bedside table when I feel poetic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">99. Color of your bedspread? Green<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">100. Color of your room? Redish pink<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">101. Kissed a girl? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">102. Kissed a boy? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">103. Had sex in public? I don’t think so<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">104. What does your URL mean? Just my name and my blog’s Unexpected Song is the name of a beautiful ALW song for a musical called Song and Dance<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">105. Five things I could find in your bedroom: an alarming number of books, loads of pictures, far too many scarves, a cup of coffee, many things organized according to color<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">106. Reason you joined tumblr? Pretty things<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">107. Do you have any nicknames? Isa or Bela<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">108. Do you like bubble bath? I like it but I don’t have many <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">109. Kissed in the rain? Yes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">110. Dyed your hair? Never<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">111. Soup or salad? Depends on the weather<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">112. Vegetable or meat? Meat<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">113. Go out drinking? Yes please<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">114. Smoke cigarettes? Not a chance<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">115. Smoke weed? No, no, no<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">116. Do any hard drugs? Never<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">117. Have you had sex today? Unfortunately no<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">118. Have you ever fallen asleep in someone’s arms? Oh yes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">119. The relationship between you and the person you last texted? She’s one of my oldest and most amazing friends<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">120. Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">121. Skipped doing homework to play a video game? All the time<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">122. Tried to commit suicide? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">123. The last time you felt broken? When I got rejected from a Master college program<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">124. Had to lie to EVERYONE about how you felt? When I got rejected from college<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">125. Do you have a Boyfriend/Girlfriend? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">126. A place that makes you feel peaceful? The beach when the sun is setting or in the evening<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">127. First thing you notice in a guy/girl? Face/smile<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">128. Do you sing in the shower? Every single day<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">129. Do you dance in the car? Depends on whose car I’m in<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">130. Where were you yesterday? Doctor’s, home, donating books in the afternoon then went to the gym at night<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">131. A place that makes you feel excited? The Metropolitan Opera<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">132. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? I seriously do not remember<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">133. Do you think musicals are cheesy? NOT AT ALL<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">134. Is Christmas stressful? Not for me, I love it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">135. Favorite type of fruit pie? Apple and blueberry<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">136. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? Archeologist<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">137. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">138. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? Oh yeah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">139. Take a vitamin daily? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">140. Wear slippers? Flips flops, I do live in Brazil, it’s pretty hot here<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">141. Wear a bath robe? No, again Brazil is pretty hot<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">142. What do you wear to bed? Old T-shirts and short pajama shorts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">143. Do you want to get married? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">144.&nbsp; A place that scares you? Dentist!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">145. How many relationships have you had? One<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">146. How can I win your heart? By not asking me that or irritating me<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">147. What makes a great relationship? Partnership and understanding and good sexual chemistry <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">148. Shy OR open? Open<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">149. What’s your favorite quote? “I am what I am, I am my own special creation” from La Cage Aux Folles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? “Benedick: I have the toothache Don Pedro: Draw it. Benedick: Hang it!” Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">151. Caring OR non-restricting of you? I don’t understand, I would like for the person to care about me but NEVER to restrict me&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">152. Straight edge OR non-straight edge? I really don’t understand this question<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">153. Piercings OR no piercings? It doesn’t matter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">154. Tattoos OR no tattoos? It also doesn’t matter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">155. Quiet stay-at-home type OR party type? Depends on the day but mostly just stay at home<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">156. Who was the last person you held hands with? My good friend Peter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">157. &nbsp;Are you outgoing or shy? Outgoing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">158. &nbsp;Who are you looking forward to seeing? The friends I just spent the weekend with<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">159. &nbsp;Are you easy to get along with? That solemnly depends on the other people’s attitude<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">160. &nbsp;If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? Absolutely<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">161. What kind of people are you attracted to? Physically the guy would have to be bigger than me, not very into thin people. Someone smart, intense but with a caring side<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">162. &nbsp;Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? I really don’t know, probably not<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">163. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? It’s embarrassing; it’s a fictional character hahaha<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">164. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Not at all<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">165. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? One of my besties, Paula<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">166. What does the most recent text that you sent say? Bel, tell Mrs Borges that we have safely embarked the bus!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">167. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? Batter my heart from an opera called Doctor Atomic sung by Gerald Finley; Downtown the version Glee did a couple of weeks ago; the whole Morro ma prima in grazia/Eri tu duets and solos sequence from Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera sung by Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky; Let it go from Disney's Frozen the Idina Menzel version; La Rondine's Bevo Al Tuo Fresco Sorriso sung by Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufamnn <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">168. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Yes, I love it actually!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">169. Do you believe in luck and miracles? I believe in fate and destiny and that you reap what you sow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">170. What good thing happened this summer? I got my minor degree in music!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">171. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Probably not<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">172. Do you think there is life on other planets? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">173. Do you still talk to your first crush? We did talk like 4 years ago but it's been too long since he's been my crush<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">174. Do you like bubble baths? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">175. Do you like your neighbors? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">176. What are your bad habits? Being too rude sometimes, trying to do a billion things at the same time<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">177. Where would you like to travel? Spain, Egypt and Greece<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">178. Do you have trust issues? I don’t know, probably not<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">179. &nbsp;Favorite part of your daily routine? Having a long breakfast and biking to wherever<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">180. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? My double chin because there is no piece of clothing I can wear to hide it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">181. What do you do when you wake up? Think that I really just wanna sleep more<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">182. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? It's alright the way it is, but if I had to choose I guess a tad lighter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">183. Who are you most comfortable around? My sister<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">184. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? Nop<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">185. Last time you got really drunk? A couple of weeks ago that was<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">186. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail? Quite enough<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">187. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? The idea of a threesome doesn't really appeal to me, but I would totally have sex with Hugh Jackman and Sean Maguire any given day<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">188. Spell your name with your chin.kxz bdf,.df<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">189. Do you play sports? What sports? I suck at sports, I do a lot of biking and spinning though and work out<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">190. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">191. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">192. What do you say during awkward silences? I would probably just start laughing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">193. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Absolutely<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">194. If you are being extremely quiet what does it mean? Probably just day dreaming or up to no good<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">195. Do you smile at strangers? Sometimes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">196. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Bottom of the ocean<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">197. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? My alarm clock<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">198. What are you paranoid about? My body hair, I hate it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">199. Have you ever been high? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">200. Have you ever been drunk? Oh yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">201. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? Not that I can recall<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">202. What was the color of the last hoodie you wore? I don't wear those<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">203. Ever wished you were someone else? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">204. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? Less self-conscious and less body hair<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">205. Favorite makeup brand? Lancome and MAC completely tied <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">206. Favorite store? Forever 21<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">207. Favorite item of jewelry? A pair of real pearl earrings my gran gave me and my Evil Queen necklace &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">208. Last thing you ate? Cuscus, chicken and shellfish<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">209. First thing you ate this morning? COFFEE<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">210. Ever won a competition? For what? Yes, the ESU public speaking competition in Brazil, even got to go to London for free because of it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">211. Been suspended/expelled? For what? Got suspended for hitting a girl, another for putting glue and paint on another girl’s chair, It was pretty funny though<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">212. Been arrested? For what? Never<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">213. Ever been in love? I think so<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">214. Tell us the story of your first kiss? Gosh, it was horrible! I was 12 and my girlfriends where both hooking up with twin brothers and they wanted me to kiss their friend just because. We went to the internal fire escape and as soon as he kissed me I was bolting for the door running for my life, it was awful!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">215. Are you hungry right now? Na<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">216. Facebook or Twitter? Can’t possibly pick!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">217. Twitter or Tumblr? Not playing this game!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">218. Are you watching tv right now? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">219. Names of your bestfriends? Daniela, Luis, Paula and Caio<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">220. What color are your towels? Orange, pink, yellow, I’m pretty sure I have every color<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">221. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Not anymore<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">222. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? I used to have LOADS, I gave most of them away but still there are about 30 that remain with me<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">223. Favorite animal? Cat probably<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">224. What color is your underwear? BLACK<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">225. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">226. Favorite ice cream flavor? Lemon<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">227. What color shirt are you wearing? I’m wearing a plaid black and white dress<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">228. What color pants? I’m wearing a dress<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">229. Favorite tv show? Once Upon a Time<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">230. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? Are you kidding me? Mean Girls!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">231. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? MEAN GIRLS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">232. Favorite character from Mean Girls? Regina George <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">233. Favorite character from Finding Nemo? Dory<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">234. First person you talked to today? My mum<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">235. Last person you talked to today? My dad<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">236. Name a person you love? My sister<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">237. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? There’s always someone I want to punch in the face hahaha<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">238. In a fight with someone? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">239. How many sweatpants do you have? None whatsoever<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">240. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? Not even one<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">241. Last movie you watched? Miss Pettigrew lives for a day<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">242. Favorite actress? Emma Thompson, Lana Parrilla and Meryl Streep<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">243. Favorite actor? Alan Rickman and Colin Firth<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">244. Do you tan a lot? Only when I go on trips with my friends and we go to the beach or to the pool<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">245. Have any flowers around? Yes, a couple of light orange carnations I bought on Sunday<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">246. How are you feeling? Fine<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">247. Do you regret anything from your past? Who doesn’t?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">248. Can you spell well? Not really<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">249. Do you miss anyone from your past? Yeah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">250. Ever been to a bonfire party? YES!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">251. Ever broken someone’s heart? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">252. Have you ever been on a horse? Yes, I love to ride horses!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">253. What should you be doing? I’ve done everything I was supposed to do today<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">254. Is something irritating you right now? No<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">255. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? I believe so<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">256. Something stupid you did this week? Accidentally drop my phone in the toilet<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">257. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My sister<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">258. What was your childhood nickname? Isa<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">259. Have you ever been out of your province/state? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">260. Do you play the Wii? Rarely<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">261. Are you listening to music right now? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">262. Do you like chicken noodle soup? Sure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">263. Do you like Chinese food? Yes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">264. Favorite book? Tough call but I’ll have to say the Harry Potter series because it changed my life<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">265. Are you mean? I can be thoroughly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">266. Is cheating ever okay? I think there are times when it’s necessary<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">267. Can you keep white shoes clean? Yeah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">268. Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe in lust and physical attraction at first sight<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">269. Do you believe in true love? Yes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">270. Are you currently bored? Not at all<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">271. What makes you happy? Doing things I love and being with people I love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">272. Would you change your name? I don’t think so<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">273. Do you like subway? I actually do, although the subway in NYC is so awfully confusing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">274. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? That’s impossible, one is gay and the other is in a very stable relationship<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">275. Favorite lyrics right now? It might sound silly but I can’t stop listening to The One that Got Away by Katy Perry, especially the chorus that goes like “In another life, I would be your girl. We’d keep all our promises. Be us against the world. In another life, I would make you stay. O I don’t have to say you were the one that got away”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">276. Can you count to one million? I can, but why on earth would I do that?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">277. Dumbest lie you ever told? It will only take a minute<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">278. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? Closed, windows wide open though<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">279. Curly or Straight hair? Curly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">280. Brunette or Blonde? Brunette<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">281. Summer or Winter? Spring<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">282. Night or Day? Night<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">283. Favorite month? December<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">284. Are you a vegetarian? Not a chance!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">285. Dark, milk or white chocolate? Dark<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">286. Tea or Coffee? COFFEE<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">287. Was today a good day? It has been so far<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">288. Mars or Snickers? What?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">289. Favorite drink? Margarita<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">290. Favorite Singers? Ouch, difficult, so many! I’ll try and be brief. Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovky, Renée Fleming, Simon Keenlyside, Placido Domingo, Alice Coote.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">291. Favorite movie genre? Romantic comedies<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">292. Dream job? Singing Tosca at the Met<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">293. 5 things you can’t live without. My friends, coffee, my MAC Russian Red lipstick, internet, music<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">294. Characters that have marked you? Hermione Granger, Queen Cercei, Regina Mills and Blair Waldorf<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">295. Something you do everyday rain or shine? Personal hygiene and work out<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">296. Ideal pet? An owl so I could see about the whole “where the hell is my Hogwarts letter” issue <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">297. Cool pop icons? Pink, Lady Gaga, Ellen, Adam Lambert, Darren Criss and Chris Colfer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">298. Favorite Musicals? Company, Wicked, Priscilla the Queen of the Desert, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Jane Eyre, Into the Woods, La Cage Aux Folles, Passion, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">299. Favorite Operas? Tosca, La Rondine, Don Giovanni, Il Trovatore, Eugene Onegin, Manon, Werther, Adriana Lecouvreur, Cendrillon, Le Nozze di Figaro, Giulio Cesare, Le Comte Ory, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">300. Favorite Disney movies? Beauty and the Beast, Hercules and Frozen</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Um5vEzSABb0/U4exHs8PUwI/AAAAAAAACBM/o9jFKEjl2GM/s1600/10256419_10152222889918922_3398728877227790658_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Um5vEzSABb0/U4exHs8PUwI/AAAAAAAACBM/o9jFKEjl2GM/s1600/10256419_10152222889918922_3398728877227790658_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That was a fun day! This was the sweater I was wearing for Prince Igor</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">I'll be back kids! ;)</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-4636643559795954682014-04-30T15:34:00.000-06:002014-04-30T15:34:05.338-06:00The Dream Book Club!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey world! What did I say? Here I am, posting again! I’ve been having a pretty good and busy week and although it’s only Wednesday it kind of feels like Friday because tomorrow is a holiday here in Brazil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We just had one for Easter last week and we got Friday and Monday off so I was able to go on a trip with my best friends. I had a wonderful time, we went to this seaside town called Maresias that very differently from my own seaside hometown is basically a tourist town. That’s great because almost everything about the town is about making your stay as pleasant and comfortable as possible. My friend’s parents have a beautiful house there and that’s where all of us (16 people) stayed. We had a MAGICAL bonfire at the beach, my friend Paula brought her guitar and we sang the night away while eating all the kinds of fruit you can possibly imagine. The moon came out at exactly 9 in the evening and since we were only relying on firelight we could see all of it and all the stars in all their majesty, it was one of the most beautiful things I EVER saw. We also went to the beach, rode on the “banana boat” (fucking awesome), and went to the swimming pool where they had a water slide that we simply dominated. The children there were upset but do I look like I care about their feelings? &nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, I’m writing this post because I wanted to update the blog more often and not only with opera stuff and not only with gigantic posts. I just finished reading the most endearing book and I wanted to talk about it a little bit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The book has nothing to do with opera but it has everything to do with two of my great passions, romance and reading. It’s called “<i>The Jane Austen Book Club” </i>by Karen Joy Fowler&nbsp;and I read the whole thing in 5 days. I’m not a very healthy reader, if I really like the book and am truly intrigued by the plot and the characters I devour it! The bad part about it is that, just like a really intense and passionate fling you might have, it ends only too quickly. I ended reading it today while I was doing my physical therapy. I get very nervous and agitated while doing activities that don’t engage my mind, like squeezing a ball 15 times for 10 seconds, so I always try and do something else while engaging in these stupid activities (you should have seen me yesterday cutting tape pieces for my dad and trying to read at the same time). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways I ended reading it in the middle of my shock session and I felt like crying! I’m such an emotional idiot but I kind of grew attached to the characters and kind of wanted to continue to get an inside scoop to their personal lives. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1lW9AOud1c/U2FrzNkKEGI/AAAAAAAACA4/cM6Ci5_ndlg/s1600/6a010536b33b69970b017c3656d58d970b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1lW9AOud1c/U2FrzNkKEGI/AAAAAAAACA4/cM6Ci5_ndlg/s1600/6a010536b33b69970b017c3656d58d970b.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The plot is rather simple, Jocelyn decides to start a book club only to discuss the six novels written by Jane Austen. Jocelyn is almost 50 and unmarried, she brews dogs and has them do those dog competitions things and is a control freak and I suspect also a cleaning freak too. She invites to join her in her book club plans her very best friend since they were both 10, Sylvia. They are the same age but Sylvia is married with three children who are all grown up and have lives of their own. Just recently Sylvia’s husband, Daniel, asked for a divorce after almost 30 years that they had been together. Also joining the group we have a slightly older friend of Jocelyn's called Bernadette who has been married countless times and counts herself quite happy. Pruddie is the youngest, about 28, she’s happily married and teaches French for high schoolers. Allegra, who is a bit older than Pruddie, was only invited because she’s Sylvia’s daughter and quite frankly she was the character I least liked of all the main characters. And last but most certainly not least Jocelyn invited a lovely gentleman named Grigg to join them in the hope that he could set him up with Sylvia. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Six people, six books and six meetings. It’s funny because nothing astronomical happens during that specific time but the narrative (for each chapter it falls into one of these main characters) does loads of time leaps and narrates the lives of all of them. That was what made the book so goddamn addictive. I felt specially drawn to Jocelyn’s and Sylvia’s stories when they were younger and also Grigg’s back story. It’s a very feminine book because it pounders so much on the thoughts of 5 women and one man who was raised in a house that contained 4 females. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Contrary to what you might expect they don’t pounder upon Jane Austen all the time. It is brought up in healthy dosages but in no way it’s a rewrite of Jane Austen. It’s like a book illustrating the women whose lives Jane Austen has touched with her writing, real women with real problems. And also it’s about happiness, the pursuit of it, the realization of it and the loss of it. And if you haven’t read all of the six Jane Austen books or none of them it really doesn’t matter, they really serve as a background for their conversations and the plotline. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I came to an odd realization reading this book. I became quite upset about the whole divorce situation with Sylvia, especially after reading her story with her husband and I felt really bad for her, he left her. But there’s something quite odd underneath that, because, this is quite weird to explain but I’ll try. Her husband’s name is Daniel and I don’t know, I’ve always had a weird thing about that name. I’ve met my fair share of Daniels, I’ve already had a big crush on one, idolized another even picked it out from a very early age to be my child’s name. And I always seem to sympathize with every single Daniel I meet or even characters with that name, so I just couldn’t hate him. I was rooting for him to come back to Sylvia more than I was rooting for Allegra to be all right when she feel and was sent to the hospital. And also even though this Daniel from this book is about 50 the mental picture I had of him looked like Noah Bean (here’s a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063800/" target="_blank">picture</a>), his name was Daniel in the two things I ever saw him in, and you just can’t hate that face!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, yeah, I’m weird like that I guess but it’s a great book. They made a movie out of it but I haven’t seen it yet. So that’s it for today! I’ll see you guys soon, I’m taking my little sis to the movies tonight! Peace!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-11953958424981791582014-04-27T22:14:00.000-06:002014-04-27T22:14:00.664-06:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 9 - Prince Igor<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey guys! Wow that last post was liberating! But it was also posted almost 2, 3 weeks ago! I can’t believe I haven’t posted in such a long time! Shame on me! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I came to a very odd realization today, I didn’t go to any of the Live in HD this season! Shame on me indeed! But in my defense I did go to the actual Met more than 12 times this season. And it’s so odd that most of the things I saw were in the HD program so I didn’t miss much. Plus there isn’t a movie theater in my town that shows the HD broadcasts, I have to make a rather long, boring and expensive trip to get to one. I might go to La Cenerentola though, it’s Joyce after all, and I do almost anything for Joyce.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But I’m sure you all are curious to know about my days in NYC, still have about 2 days to cover so let’s go!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Friday the 21<sup>st</sup> of February. We set aside this day to go to New Jersey. I know what you might be thinking; why on earth would you leave NYC to go to New Jersey? One simple word my friends: shopping. You see in New Jersey they have this great outlet mall called Jersey Gardens where stuff is just real cheap. Plus taxes are way smaller in Jersey, plus if you are foreign you get a special discount book or you don’t even have to pay the taxes at all. Bottom line, I might love NYC and opera and everything, but I also LOVE to shop. It’s a refined art and if you are very experienced and good in it, you’ll never look bad. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It was a pretty chilly day, it even snowed a little bit and thank God we were basically indoors all day. Well during our stay in New Jersey we shopped and shopped some more and ended up having to carry quite a lot of bags. I got this REALLY cute sweater at Forever 21 for like $7 that I liked so much that I changed into it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Around 4 we picked up some salads and lattes at Starbucks and headed off to get into the bus to go back to the city. We already knew there’d be loads of traffic to get into the city. Unfortunately we could only get into a bus at 5 and I started to worry. You see I had planned to watch Prince Igor and I hadn’t gotten a ticket yet and I just couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t get to watch it. I was hopeful that I would make it to Lincoln Center in time until like 10 minutes to 7 and we were still inside the tunnel. We got to Port Authority at about 7:05, we grabbed something to eat and headed out to grab a taxi. Lucky for us that there was a taxi right outside and I didn’t even think, I gave a positive sign to the driver, he gave me the thumbs up and I got in. My mom followed in and as soon as we were moving she turned to me and said <i>“You do realize that there was a huge line to get a taxi, right?”.</i>Apparently while I was flying inside the taxi the taxi organizing lady screamed at my mom <i>“Were you even in line?”</i>and the BLESSED guy who was the next in line for a cab said <i>“Yes, yes they were!”.</i> What a blessed human being! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, I ended up going to Lincoln Center anyways to try my luck and watch half of the opera. What happened next I can only call destiny, luck and I don’t even know what. First it was so interesting to be in the house outside the auditorium while an opera was going on. I didn’t know that the opera was streamed live with subtitles in the TVs outside the auditorium and you could hear the voices and the music vibrating in the place, it was insane. I went to the ticket booth and asked the lady if I could still get tickets for that performance. She just looked at me and said <i>“You do realize that the performance has already began, right?”</i> I told her I did and I didn’t really care, I really wanted to watch this opera anyways. She warmed up to me, I don’t know, she asked me if I was a student, I said yes and she proceeded to sell me a student ticket for $37,00, in the orchestra, center, SIXTH ROW! YES! I looked up the price of this seat and it costs $370,00! The actual price was 10 times more expensive than what I paid for. Quite literally, you don’t have to be a math genius to do work that out.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, I went in feeling like the luckiest cookie in the jar! Thankfully there was a 20 minute prologue before the first act. So I waited for about 10 minutes outside the auditorium doors chatting to a very nice usher. It was so insane how you could hear the singers so well with those heavy doors closed, it was quite amazing. Clapping happened and that was our cue. The usher rushed inside with me and I felt like we were in mission impossible or something, we moved swiftly as I prayed that I would disrupt as people as little as possible.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">How can I describe my seat, I have two words for you, FUCKING AWESOME! Seriously, it’s one of those seats that you never think you’ll sit in, it was very near to the stage, center, glorious and all kinds of awesome, THANK YOU STUDENT TICKETNESS!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpngPt3r6Zo/U13JMELSkdI/AAAAAAAAB94/nLLOwVnJGiQ/s1600/1619403_10152060915207713_497549195_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpngPt3r6Zo/U13JMELSkdI/AAAAAAAAB94/nLLOwVnJGiQ/s1600/1619403_10152060915207713_497549195_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>view from THE seat</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, on to the opera, so when I got there there was a sort of video going on of war and of Ildar’s gorgeous person being projected in that huge stage the Met has. I must admit I hadn’t read the story so I was really confused. But the story is Prince Igor goes to war and he loses. That prologue was him saying farewell to his city, Putivl, and wife, the projections were the war part and the first act was his life being a war prisoner of the Cumans. I’m going to write about what I remember, because reading the plot in Wikipedia made me very confused, so I’m just gonna tell you guys what I saw and what I made of it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So after that entire intro we see that the stage is absolutely and completely covered with beautiful red flowers, I was so looking forward for that! Blue, blue sky contrasting with those gorgeous blood red flowers on a raked stage. Some flowers started to move and we realized that Prince Igor was actually lying on the floor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3JMmOTBJQds/U13KPWEHLWI/AAAAAAAAB-A/tT7VaUg39zA/s1600/52f38b1b43e6e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3JMmOTBJQds/U13KPWEHLWI/AAAAAAAAB-A/tT7VaUg39zA/s1600/52f38b1b43e6e.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It’s been almost 2 months and I seriously do not remember the order of events, so forgive me if I make any mistakes. Anita Rashvelishvili sang the role of Konchakovna who was the daughter of the Khan Konchak who was the leader who imprisoned Prince Igor. She had this absolutely gorgeous aria and she looked so absolutely amazing and sounded like a freaking goddess! Apparently her character and Igor’s son Vladimir fall for each other and it’s really sweet. It was kind of odd because as she sang Igor was watching her with almost an earning gaze. Oh yes friends, I got ALL THE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, could not be happier really!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6l__wHJ4p-Y/U13Kv6e5sxI/AAAAAAAAB-I/dYMReEGz88c/s1600/39491b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6l__wHJ4p-Y/U13Kv6e5sxI/AAAAAAAAB-I/dYMReEGz88c/s1600/39491b.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then Ildar sang his first aria and oh my God the feels! It is one of the most beautiful arias I’ve ever heard. It’s in his CD of Russian bass arias and it’s just heart wrenching! For this aria we had his son, the Khan’s daughter and his wife on stage trying to tend to him. His wife obviously was fruit of his imagination but the care and devotion she had with him only helped to make the scene more memorable. And excuse me, but Ildar has an INCREDIBLE voice, really big and round and everything you would expect from a Russian bass and more!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c2RPzomgjDQ/U13LCLbctDI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/ZuHKqEmt72o/s1600/464607947_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c2RPzomgjDQ/U13LCLbctDI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/ZuHKqEmt72o/s1600/464607947_640.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then his son came up and sang another beautiful aria of his own. It’s so odd, I had never heard or seen this opera before but the music got me completely hooked. It was just so gorgeous and the singers were SO good! They all had beautiful voices that seemed to dance in my ears! After Vladimir’s aria the actual Khan Konchack showed up with his total basso aria telling Igor that he wasn’t a prisoner, that he could enjoy the place as much as he wanted, he was just a guest that wasn’t allowed to leave. Stefan Kocan, who played the Khan, was amazing and I had already seen him do the Sacristan in Aida and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. He had this dense and long really low note at the end of his aria that I truly believed he was going to hold forever!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uFgb-2PdzSk/U13LUz-vo8I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/IrRe7ocgqJ4/s1600/prince+igor7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uFgb-2PdzSk/U13LUz-vo8I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/IrRe7ocgqJ4/s1600/prince+igor7.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But then came the moment we were all waiting for. The Polonaise Dances. This was actually a way the Khan found to try and seduce Igor to stay there coy and just sit back and relax while the Khan’s army invaded Russia.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">First big, wonderful surprise was the location of the monumental chorus of 108 singers. They sang from the audience in the side Parterre and Dress Circle seats, boys on the audience’s right and girls on the left. Since I was sitting in the orchestra all that gorgeous sound just poured down on me like a miraculous rain of beauty. I was more to the right so when the man sang it was really loud and wonderful and I seriously did not know which way to look. On stage dancers started appearing and dancing to the music while a bewildered Igor watched.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This was the only music that I already knew from the opera so to see it performed in such a monumental way was truly amazing! The music kept building up and the dancers hopping like gazelles in heat and my heart skipping a beat at all that awesomeness. I felt so blessed I even thanked God right in the middle of the dances for this wonderful opportunity. This was truly one of those things that you take forever in your heart. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dX8vZNCS3Hs/U13LwnAF-dI/AAAAAAAAB-g/QdiSUtnXQZE/s1600/prince-igor-met-opera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dX8vZNCS3Hs/U13LwnAF-dI/AAAAAAAAB-g/QdiSUtnXQZE/s1600/prince-igor-met-opera.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, after the dances Igor is kind of inclined for a second to give in and just join the party but instead he manages to run away to his country and that’s where act 1 leaves us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, I was in a very delicate situation. You see, I looked like shit. I was wearing a SEVEN DOLLAR sweater from Forever 21, thick black tights with embroiled white snowflakes, my tired black snow boots and a hair so dirty I made a side braid that was kind of falling apart already. And as I looked around and saw all those people impeccably dressed with their tuxedos, suits, furs and jewels I freaking started to panic. At first I wasn’t really worried about how I looked because I thought I gonna get a seat at the Family circle or something and things up there are much more relaxed. But I was sitting in a very expensive area and everyone around me seemed to have brought in their ‘A’ game outfits to the opera house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I quickly made my way to the restroom located bellow the orchestra area to see what I could do about my far from fancy look. I redid my braid and put on a pretty French bonnet stylishly, then I redid my make up with the stuff I had in hand in my makeup bag. Put on my statement red lipstick and took off my glasses and my head looked extremely Met appropriate. Sadly it was attached to a body who was unfortunately wearing clothes fit for a quick run to the supermarket. Also all I could think of was running into the person who takes the pictures for “last night at the Met”, which is this great tumblr page where they post all the great and stylish looks of the Met patrons, and getting a dirty look or something. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know I sound silly talking like this, after all I was so lucky to get that seat and I was having such a wonderful time. But I’m proud to say that I'm fashion forward kind of person and I care about how I look especially at the Met which I one of my favorite places in the whole entire world! Anyways, I remembered that Kate Spade had this collection done with the same polka dot pattern as my sweater. So I just told myself that I had spent $300 on that sweater on Kate Spade and that was an ironic look for the opera that young people wear nowadays. I got out of that restroom with a new found confidence and was able to continue my evening in peace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Enough about fashion though. Second act came along and I was pretty excited and happy that I hadn’t read the synopsis because I wanted the piece to tell me the story. Anyways, as I’ve said before it’s been a while since that day so forgive me if I retell things in the wrong order. The first thing I remember in act 2 was Igor’s wife’s (Yaroslavna) aria. Oksana Dyka was so incredible, I never heard her before and she stole my heart. She has this luscious and velvety soprano voice that is absolutely huge and fills that auditorium effortlessly. All the arias are lengthy in this opera but you don’t even feel it pass you by. Maybe it’s because I can’t understand a word in Russian and have no idea if they are repeating always the same thing or not. But I think it’s because the music is so interesting and it really keeps you on the edge of your seat. Yaroslavna is singing about how much she misses her husband and how much she wants him back, having not had news of him in a long time. You totally root for the couple when you hear her miserable pleas and I’m the kind of romantic person that pictures that their reunion is gonna be so passionate. Maybe I should slow down with the fanfiction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf9iawxoCQU/U0Gq_VGTLxI/AAAAAAAAB0w/n6DTIeStIzk/s1600/p01sxbmh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf9iawxoCQU/U0Gq_VGTLxI/AAAAAAAAB0w/n6DTIeStIzk/s1600/p01sxbmh.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways after her aria her maid tells her that there are some convent ladies who wanted to talk to her and on they come to plead for their friend who has been kidnapped. The thing is, the person who kidnapped the young nun was Yaroslavna’s brother who was kind of in charge of protecting the city. But she can’t go against her brother and he’s not the most honorable guy you’ll ever meet. He actually has this evil plan (stop with the Once Upon a Time references!) to send away his sister and take over the city as the new fresh prince (of Bel Air, sorry, I will stop)!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He has this huge feast with all of the guys from the chorus department and it’s a pretty fun scene. They laugh, they eat, they’re having a swell time really, they get really drunk and I could spot some hot guys with half their shirts on that weren’t singing, God bless whoever cast the extras! I really enjoyed this scene of the party, it was so energetic and they danced, it really was a lot of fun to watch. And some people might say, <i>“Ah, he’s the bad guy, this scene isn’t supposed to be endearing”</i> but I seriously don’t give a rat’s ass, it was a funny scene only made funnier when the stupid nuns broke in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-GDPEVNUY8/U13NpdBmLhI/AAAAAAAAB-s/6Lf-CBNhwL0/s1600/_f2a1887-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-GDPEVNUY8/U13NpdBmLhI/AAAAAAAAB-s/6Lf-CBNhwL0/s1600/_f2a1887-jpg.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m sorry if I sound rude, but you gotta be really stupid to crash a party with approximately 100 men in order to claim your kidnapped friend back. Needless to say the guys have a huge laugh on their account and quite honestly so did I. They started threatening to touch the nuns and some of the guys even kissed them and I’m sorry if that makes me an awful person, but I thought it was pretty funny. Thank God I didn’t laugh out loud though because I don’t think that was the general feeling in the audience. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So as Galitsky I getting ready to rumble they hear the news of Igor’s failure in the battle field. There is a huge uproar and everyone, from the chorus, soloists and extras seem to be on stage and suddenly Galitsky is dead. Then they proceed to be attacked and as the stage shows the indoors of the castle the scenery quite literally falls apart. It was so incredible, everybody took cover in the sides of the set and the whole middle crumbled down with incredible explosions! SO AMAZING! Really incredible effects and I was right in front, I could see that if someone had remained on that stage they would have been seriously injured. Just awesome. End of second act!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L88Cn4ePNVY/U13OHq-QMBI/AAAAAAAAB-0/sxTGAYbNg88/s1600/BroadcastIgorBcst3hdl2214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L88Cn4ePNVY/U13OHq-QMBI/AAAAAAAAB-0/sxTGAYbNg88/s1600/BroadcastIgorBcst3hdl2214.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways during intermission I decided to roam along that area down the stairs from the orchestra level seats. That one where there are a million photographs of all the cool singers. I could spot many of my favorites, if not all of them really. They have this BEAUTIFUL painting of Renée Fleming as Rusalka that I would like to have in my living room. And another even cooler of Placido Domingo as Otello that would look super hanging above a fireplace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This intermission was pretty quick and I was actually dying to know what was gonna happen next. You see the thing about opera plots for me is the following, there’s only one time that you are gonna see that opera for the first time. The other times it might be wonderful too but you’ll already know the story. And I always like for the theater, the actual thing to tell me story, I find it extremely pointless to read the plot ahead. I remember I was listening to the Met premiere of Two Boys last year and I had the score with me so I was following it plus it was sung in a very clear English so I could understand every word they were saying. There was only one intermission but in it the commentators from the radio proceeded to spoil the whole story and tell the end in less than a minute! I was so MAD, the ending is so fucking good. It felt as if I was reading a REALLY good Agatha Christie book and someone came up to me and told me who the killer was before I finished it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m sorry guys, I just finished watching the last Once Upon a Time episode and I’m kind of emotional, that show does that to me. Anyways, third act comes along and we are brought back to the palace but now it is all in ruins and everybody is basically miserable. Igor appears, he has succeeded in running away but is very upset about the whole ‘his town is in ruins’ thing and is afraid to reveal himself. There’s a very cool sort of flashback in which the lights change and we see Igor’s son telling him he’s not tagging along because he’d rather stay in captivity with his hot girlfriend. They change back and two guys who were on Galitsky’s side spot Igor and summon everyone to tell them he’s back in order to redeem themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Va_AMvaWgjM/U13O7sBu2VI/AAAAAAAAB_E/zgn65w8Xdnc/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Va_AMvaWgjM/U13O7sBu2VI/AAAAAAAAB_E/zgn65w8Xdnc/s1600/5.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBWSkE-Hwfg/U13O7VP21WI/AAAAAAAAB_A/XQlakd56kYI/s1600/iIgob7mhtNWE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBWSkE-Hwfg/U13O7VP21WI/AAAAAAAAB_A/XQlakd56kYI/s1600/iIgob7mhtNWE.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Igor has a pretty romantic and sweet moment with his wife which was brief but I loved it. And then he turns defeated to his people and says that he feels all this is his fault and that they all have to work together in order to rebuild the city. I think its so great that after that he starts to clean up and everybody follows suit and that’s how the opera ends.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ev7-H0Eg5_w/U13PLWjGgYI/AAAAAAAAB_Q/YfMzC3qO9Ko/s1600/bosprinceigorlead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ev7-H0Eg5_w/U13PLWjGgYI/AAAAAAAAB_Q/YfMzC3qO9Ko/s1600/bosprinceigorlead.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After the opera ended I headed to the stage door because I needed to take a picture and speak to Ildar. But I must confess that this time was the most awkward I’ve ever felt there. The reason? It’s very simple, I was the only one there. Not even the freaks were there! And about a million people came out of that stage door and I was truly feeling very uncomfortable. After about half an hour I heard the crazy white haired bag lady’s voice and I was like <i>“I refuse to stand out here with that deranged woman!</i>”, so I went inside. I knew she couldn’t come inside because she had been banned so I felt a lot safer and warm by the payphone. It took him a little while longer but it was totally worth it, for when Ildar appeared he was in the company of none other than Barbara Fritolli!</span>&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XXNVZnBMgG4/U13S0oRqT3I/AAAAAAAACAM/eQzyM2aeb1k/s1600/DSC01850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XXNVZnBMgG4/U13S0oRqT3I/AAAAAAAACAM/eQzyM2aeb1k/s1600/DSC01850.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aSKY32GTQeI/U13TeMoBIpI/AAAAAAAACAs/_owFQBzASyk/s1600/DSC01862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aSKY32GTQeI/U13TeMoBIpI/AAAAAAAACAs/_owFQBzASyk/s1600/DSC01862.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p0NCWuAqxRE/U13SU5XPcSI/AAAAAAAAB_0/zNAPpsKriKA/s1600/DSC01843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p0NCWuAqxRE/U13SU5XPcSI/AAAAAAAAB_0/zNAPpsKriKA/s1600/DSC01843.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frcJE9c12eg/U13TLY25XNI/AAAAAAAACAc/I1k6UWp_nhc/s1600/DSC01856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frcJE9c12eg/U13TLY25XNI/AAAAAAAACAc/I1k6UWp_nhc/s1600/DSC01856.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>&nbsp;<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--E62bEMQD_g/U13SjzhX9WI/AAAAAAAAB_4/76iHP47yrR4/s1600/DSC01849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--E62bEMQD_g/U13SjzhX9WI/AAAAAAAAB_4/76iHP47yrR4/s1600/DSC01849.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9BNc2V-BkcU/U13SmvyJ9jI/AAAAAAAACAA/tu_QUMnau0I/s1600/DSC01848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9BNc2V-BkcU/U13SmvyJ9jI/AAAAAAAACAA/tu_QUMnau0I/s1600/DSC01848.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LLpO60iVBxw/U13TWeN731I/AAAAAAAACAk/wHC4ThY6f_o/s1600/DSC01859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LLpO60iVBxw/U13TWeN731I/AAAAAAAACAk/wHC4ThY6f_o/s1600/DSC01859.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Wzde6UrjfNo%2FU13THLysoQI%2FAAAAAAAACAQ%2FNB4YG4_9KZc%2Fs1600%2FDSC01852.JPG&amp;container=blogger&amp;gadget=a&amp;rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wzde6UrjfNo/U13THLysoQI/AAAAAAAACAQ/NB4YG4_9KZc/s1600/DSC01852.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Here are some awesome pics I took at curtain call&nbsp;</i></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">Yes! And it took all the courage that I could muster to go up to them and say </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">“Hey, do you guys have a second?”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> because they were quite resolute on heading towards the door. But as soon as I said I was such a huge fan of both of them they took their time to talk and Ildar signed my copy of his CD with my name on it. I actually ended up talking more to Barbara because I told her that that last production she did of Don Giovanni at the Met was the first opera I ever saw and it made me fall in love with opera. She was so thrilled and also SO NICE. He actually asked me what I had thought about the production and I was so speechless I said </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">“Well at the time I thought it was great because it was the first one I’d ever seen and the singers and the music were so good”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> and turned to me and said with that awesome Italian accent </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">“There are much better productions than this”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> and I told her that indeed I had seen better productions since but that she had always remained my favorite Donna Elvira. She was very touched and we took pictures and I also got to tell Ildar how AMAZING he was in this opera and how I admired him. They are THE sweetest couple you know, as I was telling Ildar how incredible he was Barbara was like </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">“Wasn’t he? Wasn’t he great?”</i><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMYGE8P8gtI/U13Qrol47xI/AAAAAAAAB_k/bzFmia3s58A/s1600/DSC01865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMYGE8P8gtI/U13Qrol47xI/AAAAAAAAB_k/bzFmia3s58A/s1600/DSC01865.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UoE8mV4DRe4/U13Qq8RlMUI/AAAAAAAAB_c/wzYIp8L_B74/s1600/DSC01864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UoE8mV4DRe4/U13Qq8RlMUI/AAAAAAAAB_c/wzYIp8L_B74/s1600/DSC01864.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And let me tell you something else girls, when he pulled me towards his side to take the picture I almost fainted. He is so attractive! He’s my type, big, strong, Russian, deep voice and a friendly smile. It was great! After that I went back to the hotel completely dazzled, what a performance!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And now I should go! I’m so sorry I took such a long time to update! I’ll try to not let it happen again! Cheers people!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-83381851796648316122014-04-10T13:02:00.000-05:002014-04-10T13:02:37.605-05:00Bucket of Ice Water for this Wicked Singer<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sometimes we feel like we’re going in circles with this training. Almost always doing very similar exercises every single day and sometimes we just throw our hands to the sky and ask: WHY? Why do I have to study SO much every single day? Well, of course we know the answer, it almost comes out automatically for us opera students. We have to study a lot everyday because of the muscle memory, to strengthen our instrument because it’s not something you can learn overnight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But one thing is to just know that and always keep in on the back of your mind for that eventual nudge whenever you are feeling blue. Another thing is to actually experience some result of all that work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Let me start from the beginning, shall we? As you guys remember I made a very special trip all the way to the United States to audition of the Hartt School in Connecticut for a Master program in singing. I went there, I sang and a month later I received the sad news that I hadn’t been accepted. That hit me pretty darn hard. I’m a particularly dramatic person I must confess that I involuntarily I put myself in situations that if I don’t get what I was aiming to get I feel like it's the end of the world. That’s mostly because Hartt was the only school that I auditioned for and not getting in meant having to spend another year in Brazil. And don’t get me wrong I love my country but we do have absolutely rotten politics that make the career of classical musicians very difficult and most of the time&nbsp;nonexistent&nbsp;here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So in order to continue my education I need to move to another country. And I must confess that I never felt like I belonged here in this country anyway, ever since I was a little girl I’ve wanted to live elsewhere. So going back to the story, after I found out I had been rejected I was pretty much devastated. For about 2 weeks I didn’t tell a soul (only my sister and my teacher actually) because I didn’t really want to accept that I wasn’t going to school this coming September. But something quite unexpected helped me out of my blueness, a very misunderstood lady named Regina. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Although she’s about 10 years older than me we are very similar, both overly dramatic women in search of something that we really don't know what it is exactly but it's quite difficult and scary to get. I guess one of the things I mostly have in common with her is the fact that I’m scared to DEATH to take a leap of faith, to take a chance because it can bring me immense joy but it can also break my heart. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But ever since March, when she came back, I’m finding her choices and her posture quite inspiring. She had been travelling the path of becoming less self obsessed and more caring of others and that made me pause to look around. I looked around and I saw my mother overloaded with work and stressed, my sister trying to juggle college and her job and my dad having all the house responsibilities to himself. And there I was complaining and doing compulsive shopping. I then decided to change and to help all of them, I took responsibility for all of the food related things in my house and I also started running arrons for my mother and sister (one that involved buying fabric that imitated rabbit fur, sister is a cosplayer, what can I say?). That already made me feel a lot better. And since I run these arrons in my bike I’ve also lost about 7 kgs!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And it is at these moments when you are living one day at a time that extraordinary things happen. One day I was watching the extras of one of my Once Upon a Time DVDs and as they were talking about sets and locations they mentioned a place that made everything click. Canada. And then a huge flash back hit me and I remembered an email a student exchange program lady had sent me about a music program in Canada. I went back to my inbox to check it out, two years fulltime intensive program at the Vancouver Community College. I didn’t think twice, I called the lady (very, very nice lady named Claudia) and started my application. All the deadlines for applying for September had already been reached but she managed to squeeze me in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Luckily for me I had my entire paper work ready because of the other college applications. But there was one thing they asked that I did not have, a video of me singing. Sure I have some great audios but no videos and the school told me to send them a DVD of me doing everything I could do music wise by this Friday, I mean it had to arrive in Canada this very Friday. That was this last Monday evening, Claudia told me that I had to bring her the DVD by Tuesday at midday so they could send it. After talking to her I called my piano teacher and arranged for her to play for me the next day then called my best friend so he could film it for me. It took me three hours to sleep that day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Woke up the next day got all pretty and out of the house I went to actually buy DVDs because I didn’t have any. Back to my house I recorded my audios on a DVD just in case I was too late with the videos. I grabbed my bike around 10 and flew to the Student Exchange office to give them the final paper work and the DVD. Then I biked my way to my teacher’s house and me and my friend were punctually there at 11. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I recorded in record time. I vocalized and recorded 5 songs in 35 minutes. How the hell did I do that? Well, I gotta blame it on the work I did all those countless afternoons at college, vocalizing and singing and studying until that&nbsp;insufferable&nbsp;man would kick me out of the classroom. I was very&nbsp;flabbergasted I must confess, I would sing the songs without a trace of a doubt as if I was just speaking. Plus they came out so well even though I hadn’t studied and vocalized properly for a little bit more than a month. The muscles and my body and my breathing just knew what to do in every different situation and it just felt marvelous! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I guess all that hard work did pay off after all. I recorded the DVD and took it to the agency just in time for them to send it up to Canada. Now all I have to do is wait.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t want to rave too such about this because past experiences have shown me that hoping for something to much can totally crush you if you don’t get it. But at the end of the day all this was a very positive experience. Because I was finally able to do something quite wonderful, which was to love opera and love to sing but it is not who I am and if someday I don’t feel that spark anymore I can just walk away without regret. That is something Joyce said in one of her many wonderful videos but I never understood. For me back then opera was all I needed and all that could make me happy. But once you have it taken away from you you can either crumble or look at the world as a white canvas and think, <i>“I can do anything I want”</i>. And let me tell you something, that sensation I pretty fantastic! Because before all this I was quite focused (to not say obsessed) in opera and my career and training and studying. Which is all so great, but now I look back and see that I made some personal sacrifices because of that that I truly regret. Yes, I’m talking about not taking a romantic chance with someone at college because I thought he would distract me from my studies and ruin my career. So I really do feel I did need that big bucket of ice water that is a college rejection letter to just stop and look around me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know that speaking like this I sound as if I’m giving up, but I’m really not. I’m still studying but also doing so many other things! I started taking better care of myself, taking the time to choose clothes that flattered my body, exercising, going out with my friends and actually finding other interests I might have. I quite recently found that I’m pretty good at making headbands and stuff for you to wear in your hair, I’ve been having quite a lot of fun braiding ribbons and chains and whatever I could find together to make the cutest hair wear pieces. &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UvSAy5I-ygk/U0bcWoci-jI/AAAAAAAAB7w/hYaXMv6Os2I/s1600/tumblr_n3dwnnPtIF1st19e2o1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UvSAy5I-ygk/U0bcWoci-jI/AAAAAAAAB7w/hYaXMv6Os2I/s1600/tumblr_n3dwnnPtIF1st19e2o1_500.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regina</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So never fret, I’ve never been happier! This was just a little something I wanted to get off my chest. I just would like to leave a very big thank you to Lana, without her incredible artistry I would still be down in the dumps. You rock, I'm proud to be one of your Regals! Cheers everyone!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-13163406232413043402014-04-06T15:23:00.000-05:002014-04-06T15:23:23.048-05:00The 2014/2015 Metropolitan Opera Season (part 2)<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey guys! I really hoped that I had finished this sooner but this week has been crazy! Going to job interviews, doing a billion things for my mum, seeing about Summer Programs (I got into the Opera Live in NYC Program), ending the bedroom makeover, successfully selling unwanted stuff online and also seeing about maybe going to Vancouver to study has totally taken up my whole week! But it’s been a blast really, it was a great week without a dull moment in it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’ve also sort of created some living rules for me now because since I’m a lot at home and working from the computer I tend to get very distracted. First rule was cutting all bread, sweets, sodas and fried stuff from my diet. I thought that it would be so awful but it actually wasn’t and I’m feeling a lot better. Then not stuffing myself with food, because what usually happened to me was I would put a lot of stuff in my plate because I was afraid to not have enough food to satiate myself. And then I would push the extra food in because I feel bad about leaving food on the plate. So now I eat in small portions and if I’m still hungry I grab a tad more.&nbsp; And another thing was not eating under any circumstance carbs at night. I’ve been doing this for the last 3 weeks and have lost about 6 kgs, which is a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Plus I can only read fanfiction at night. That rule helps a lot with my productivity during the days I stay home. Since I’ve decided to sell some stuff I don’t want any more I’ve been at home and in front of the computer a lot. It’s this great deal and I’ve already sold three things in the last couple of days, a belt, a bag and a pair of shoes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But let's go back to the subject in question here, opera! Here are 6 more operas coming next season at the Met!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">That Egyptian love story that never gets old</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rK774hBKT7A/U0GqCyGHe2I/AAAAAAAAB0U/NR19WHf0wXY/s1600/Aida_2393-s-2256087238-O.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rK774hBKT7A/U0GqCyGHe2I/AAAAAAAAB0U/NR19WHf0wXY/s1600/Aida_2393-s-2256087238-O.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t even need to say more, right? </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aida</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">has got to be one of my favorite operas and this production is probably the best I’ve ever seen. It features the Met’s entire chorus plus a couple hundred extras and dancers and horses and the whole shebang! Apart from the fact that we are talking </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Verdi</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> here and most importantly we are talking about one of the most beautiful music ever written. It’s amazing how the tunes from Aida just stay with you, I remember when I first saw it that I simply could not stop hearing those tunes in my head!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Even though this is without a trace of a doubt an Italian opera it actually opened in Cairo back in 1871. I believe that the Khedivial Opera House commissioned this from Verdi, don’t remember though. Well the story is as old as time, the typical Verdian love triangle. Aida is an Ethiopian slave serving in Egypt, more specifically serving the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris. Both ladies are head over heels in love with the captain Radames, who technically is hot stuff but normally what you see is over weight on stage (frustrating, much? Yes!). Anywho, Radames has a secret affair with Aida and they are both SO in love. But the thing is, like every good Slytherin (yes, I have HP house sorted opera characters, Radames goes to Gryffindor, Aida Hufflepuff and Amneris Slytherin, the hat never lies!) Amneris senses there’s something going on between Radames and Aida and will do everything she can to humiliate Aida and to get Radames to herself. Amneris is the <i>BEST</i> character in this opera.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So, to take on the difficult role of Aida the Met got 3 amazing and very different sopranos. First up is <b>Liudmyla Monastyrska</b> who you guys might remember as the Aida from the last HD broadcast of this opera. She is young but oh so incredible, her Aida is full of feeling and her voice is a jewel. I also saw her playing Lady Macbeth a couple of years ago for the ROH, fantastic! Next up is <b>Latonia Moore</b> who has played this role many, many times and does a terrific job. Last but certainly not least the Ukrainian <b>Oksana Dyka</b> and let me tell you, this woman’s voice is an absolute DREAM! I was fortunate enough to see her in Prince Igor live in February and she blew that Metropolitan roof up! I would LOVE to see her as Aida!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BdiG4N6_-FA/U0Gq_NurQdI/AAAAAAAAB0c/5R9tUVzmJ0w/s1600/383247864_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BdiG4N6_-FA/U0Gq_NurQdI/AAAAAAAAB0c/5R9tUVzmJ0w/s1600/383247864_640.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qkbgiIfaUWY/U0Gq_QvjeQI/AAAAAAAAB0g/8utMEEr9Kcs/s1600/dallasopera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qkbgiIfaUWY/U0Gq_QvjeQI/AAAAAAAAB0g/8utMEEr9Kcs/s1600/dallasopera.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf9iawxoCQU/U0Gq_VGTLxI/AAAAAAAAB0k/VKx8tFcD8ZM/s1600/p01sxbmh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf9iawxoCQU/U0Gq_VGTLxI/AAAAAAAAB0k/VKx8tFcD8ZM/s1600/p01sxbmh.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But the dream casting does not stop there, for Amneris we have two absolute opera jewels! First up my personal favorite Amneris of all time, </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Olga Borodina</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> who plays this role like no one else. She is absolute poison, absolutely passionate and her voice is like melting dark, dark chocolate. And I was particularly pleased because I had heard statements of hers saying that now that she’d turned 50 she wanted to slow down her career to be with her family. I’m just happy she didn’t drop the Met completely, a trip to Saint Petersburg is quite impossible for me right now. And also the double threat soprano/mezzo soprano </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Violeta Urmana</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> who plays both the role of Aida AND Amneris, who cool is that, hun?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JdXlIgu_S-U/U0Gr6JMeeNI/AAAAAAAAB1M/QkTSZ426CcY/s1600/20121214_aida_33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JdXlIgu_S-U/U0Gr6JMeeNI/AAAAAAAAB1M/QkTSZ426CcY/s1600/20121214_aida_33.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z9WneDOhNGc/U0Gr0g6pFAI/AAAAAAAAB1E/w67ZD9TQ0FA/s1600/urmana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z9WneDOhNGc/U0Gr0g6pFAI/AAAAAAAAB1E/w67ZD9TQ0FA/s1600/urmana.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">Sharing our ‘hero’s’ shoes will be </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Marcello Giordani</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">and </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Marco Berti</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> who both have a vast experience with Verdi and his difficult and taxing tenor roles. At the pit we have two of my favorite conductor’s, </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Marco Armiliato</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> and </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Placido Domingo</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">(the coolest person ever).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cu_kHfaKTeE/U0GtcHGjMrI/AAAAAAAAB1g/ED0oQbL95tQ/s1600/marcello.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cu_kHfaKTeE/U0GtcHGjMrI/AAAAAAAAB1g/ED0oQbL95tQ/s1600/marcello.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-65uCFc3iaj0/U0GtcFedKPI/AAAAAAAAB1s/gO0FcwKMK6o/s1600/Aida0708.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-65uCFc3iaj0/U0GtcFedKPI/AAAAAAAAB1s/gO0FcwKMK6o/s1600/Aida0708.05.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Out of so many cast possibilities the one I’d like to see would be Dyka/Borodina/Berti/Domingo but no can do. I can have almost that cast with Urmana instead of Borodina in April of next year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Posts related to this;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/12/un-ballo-in-maschera-at-met.html" target="_blank">Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/a-love-letter-to-anmeris.html" target="_blank">A Love Letter to Amneris</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/02/ratpack-rigoletto.html" target="_blank">Ratpack Rigoletto</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Lady Macbeth from Russia</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cu-1Ckv7jo/U0GtcOgoghI/AAAAAAAAB1k/3kXYPx7MLEs/s1600/macbeth372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cu-1Ckv7jo/U0GtcOgoghI/AAAAAAAAB1k/3kXYPx7MLEs/s1600/macbeth372.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know what you might think, but </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s a Russian opera written by </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Shostakovich</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> that premiered in the 1930’s based on the novel </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> by Nikolai Leskov. Before this season’s announcement I had never heard of this opera, I have only seen one Shostakovich opera in my live, the Nose (which fortunately was live), which I really liked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As I read the plot of this opera I couldn’t help but think that it was one of the most dynamic and passionate and cool plots of opera I’d ever read. This is what happens, Katerina is unhappily married to this guy Zinovy and his dad is pretty much a pain in the ass because he blames her for not having any heirs (but apparently it’s not really her fault, her husband isn’t really into her so, I have a slight feeling he might be gay). Katerina’s maid tells her about this guy Sergei who is a womanizer. When Katerina goes on to confront him and tell him women are just as good as men they end up getting into an actual physical fight which results in Sergei throwing himself on top of her. He does that only in time for her annoying father in law to see the scene and become suspicious about her loyalty to his son. At night Sergei goes to her room to ‘ask for a book’ but then proceeds to seduce her and they end up having hot sex. Her father in law (thinking that he’s all so smart) locks her in her room not knowing that Sergei is in there and they resume to basically having sex all night long. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And this is just the first act! There are like 4 acts in which the story TRULY unfolds and loads and loads of things happen! As Katerina we have the amazing <b>Eva Maria Westbroek</b>. She is so incredible, she has played cool Wagnerian roles like Sieglinde and majestic roles like Didon in Berlioz’s Les Troyes and also the operatic role of the infamous Anna Nicole Smith. She has this smooth and gorgeous voice I wish I could hear live someday. As her lover Sergei we have a tenor called <b>Brandon Jovanovich</b> of whom I had never heard of but just seeing pictures of him I totally get it why it was easy for Sergei to seduce Katerina. Hot stuff! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a_WHxEgU-d4/U0GvC3wh4tI/AAAAAAAAB10/5Pu1izqUXo4/s1600/7414434084_d2777a187c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a_WHxEgU-d4/U0GvC3wh4tI/AAAAAAAAB10/5Pu1izqUXo4/s1600/7414434084_d2777a187c.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CTTY7j13QTI/U0GvDNysjqI/AAAAAAAAB14/nge7TstsSFA/s1600/d7ed0ac76a079bfef14cf6665c162d28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CTTY7j13QTI/U0GvDNysjqI/AAAAAAAAB14/nge7TstsSFA/s1600/d7ed0ac76a079bfef14cf6665c162d28.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I really wish I could see this! Not gonna be on HD though! Bummer, it's probably because it's very dark and heavy stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Posts related to this;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/10/day-6-nose.html" target="_blank">Trip to NYC - Day 6 - The Nose</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/09/anna-nicole.html" target="_blank">How Anna Nicole Smith Could Save Opera in the 21st Century</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The barber who sings more than works</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QB7QeQTUI-c/U0GvVnZg7BI/AAAAAAAAB2E/TTqLiNwuWEg/s1600/MetNov06DivineComedy460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QB7QeQTUI-c/U0GvVnZg7BI/AAAAAAAAB2E/TTqLiNwuWEg/s1600/MetNov06DivineComedy460.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is such a blast of an opera! It’s probably my second favorite </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rossini</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> opera (Le Comte Ory is my utmost favorite) and I know that </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Il Barbieri di Siviglia</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> has touched the hearts of many people I know. It’s a wonderful comedy filled with catchy tunes and smart jokes. The story was taken from the Beaumarchais trilogy, it’s how it all started, part 1!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The story is pretty simple, Rosina (Isabel Leonard) is a beautiful young lady who is kept locked away at home most of the time by her guardian. He is an old, greasy man who plans to marry her only to get his hands on her money. Enters the Count (Lawrence Brownlee) who fell in love with her at first sight when spotting her at her window. So he procures the help of Figaro (Christopher Maltman) so they can fool Rosina’s guardian and get hitched. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Met’s current production is by Barlet Sheer and it’s all right. No super amazing and grand sets but very efficient and fun in telling the story. One thing I really like in this production is Rosina’s second act dress which is to die for. But I’m a sucker for fashion so…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As the feisty Rosina we have the amazing American mezzo soprano <b>Isabel Leonard</b> who as I’ve said in some other posts is so amazing and such a nice person. For the Count we have another American singer<b>, Lawrence Brownlee</b> who together with Juan Diego Florez is taking the Rossini tenor roles by storm! He’s very, very talented and has a very good comedic timing. For our Figaro we have <b>Christopher Maltman</b> who is another amazing American singer. I had the privilege of seeing him in the very last performance of Die Fledermaus in February and he was so incredible. Amazingly funny and the music just seemed so natural and effortless it was really an amazing performance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0i4ACQBv9tQ/U0Gw-YdPIhI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/277p89RNcIw/s1600/Christopher-Maltman-as-Ju-010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0i4ACQBv9tQ/U0Gw-YdPIhI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/277p89RNcIw/s1600/Christopher-Maltman-as-Ju-010.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n7Bad_JFiaQ/U0Gw-rXslMI/AAAAAAAAB2c/fywrBEjxtHg/s1600/fille2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n7Bad_JFiaQ/U0Gw-rXslMI/AAAAAAAAB2c/fywrBEjxtHg/s1600/fille2.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B9FDx0zKTdE/U0Gw-fx8igI/AAAAAAAAB2U/8EkMdSLNMrA/s1600/IL_LopateShow_Press.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B9FDx0zKTdE/U0Gw-fx8igI/AAAAAAAAB2U/8EkMdSLNMrA/s1600/IL_LopateShow_Press.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Posts related to this;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/03/la-cenerentola.html" target="_blank">La Cenerentola</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/03/opera-in-rehearsal.html" target="_blank">Opera in Rehearsal</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/03/fairytaleish-dress-rehearsal.html" target="_blank">Fairytaleish Dress Rehearsal</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The craziest song contest ever</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jz321-OUQ_Q/U0GxI44I9WI/AAAAAAAAB2o/mwNipJ6VU_k/s1600/meisterfotodiscena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jz321-OUQ_Q/U0GxI44I9WI/AAAAAAAAB2o/mwNipJ6VU_k/s1600/meisterfotodiscena.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If have to be honest I have to confess I don’t have much patience when it comes to </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Wagner</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. It might be because his operas tend to last 4 hours or it might be because I don’t understand a word they say. Either way I found myself feeling very lazy to read the plot of </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Die Meitersinger von Nürnberg</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, but I did anyway. This is the longest Wagner opera which is performed nowadays, it lasts approximately four hours and a half and we are not counting intermission time. This opera I just like Capriccio and L’Orfeo because it revolves around the creation and composing of music.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So the story is pretty crazy. There’s this knight named Walther who has no musical education whatsoever and he falls head over heels in love with Eva. But Eva’s dad is kind of delusional and says that she will marry the <i>Meistersinger</i> who wins the town’s song competition. So Walther tries to pretend that he’s a worthy candidate to be a Meistersinger so he can enter and win the competition and his beloved’s hand in marriage. But since he doesn’t have any musical education he fails miserably and the Meistersingers people don’t even let him finish his flaw filled song. From then on he’s gonna try and enter that competition anyway he can plus having to worry about a pain in the ass actual Meistersinger called Beckmesser who wants to win the competition. But he’s gonna have the help of the ultimate Meistersinger Hans Sachs so hope isn’t all lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As the savior of the day playing Hans Sachs we have <b>Johan Reuter</b>, as the hopeless knight (although he can resemble many things but a knight) is <b>Johan Botha</b>. As Eva we have <b>Annette Dash</b> who I had only heard singing Mozart and am quite curious to see how she will do with Wagner. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ISdkUKJcX6c/U0Gx1Q7kjxI/AAAAAAAAB24/OAVhMT7qLos/s1600/Dasch-Annette-02%5BManfred-Baumann%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ISdkUKJcX6c/U0Gx1Q7kjxI/AAAAAAAAB24/OAVhMT7qLos/s1600/Dasch-Annette-02%5BManfred-Baumann%5D.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xvRldQO-vEg/U0Gx1lyWpXI/AAAAAAAAB28/7CRinTZQi0U/s1600/botha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xvRldQO-vEg/U0Gx1lyWpXI/AAAAAAAAB28/7CRinTZQi0U/s1600/botha.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fzYosXo31U/U0Gx1LwiYjI/AAAAAAAAB2w/gBhpGi3gCYs/s1600/reuter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fzYosXo31U/U0Gx1LwiYjI/AAAAAAAAB2w/gBhpGi3gCYs/s1600/reuter.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’ not just any Verdi tragedy</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KmjSZwTnvBs/U0GyNNLAIiI/AAAAAAAAB3I/XT0t-5HBxwg/s1600/12traviata-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KmjSZwTnvBs/U0GyNNLAIiI/AAAAAAAAB3I/XT0t-5HBxwg/s1600/12traviata-articleLarge.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I think this is the most popular of <b>Verdi</b>’s operas, hence it’s included every other season at the Met. If I’m going to be totally honest this is not my favorite production of <b>La Traviata</b>. Yes, the red dress is fabulous but there’s not much else to it. I think this kind of production is great to have at festivals or in one season of a big repertoire house but not as a reoccurring production. So every time you wanna watch La Traviata at the Met it’s this nude and empty production. This is my opinion, I don’t think the production is bad it’s just that for a house like the Met they should put up something beyond gorgeous for Verdi’s most beloved opera. My first experience with La Traviata was through this production and to be completely honest I didn’t understand half of it because they leave far too much to your imagination. I guess I’m just traditional. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, La Traviata tells the story of a courtesan named Violetta who was leading her life loveless but filled with luxury and wealth only too well before Alfredo came along. They fall in love and she decides to go and live with him in the countryside like the happy loving couple that they are and gives up her job. But everything is not sunshine and flowers, you see Alfredo does not have much money to afford the life they lead and Violetta is secretly selling her things to make ends meet. To make things worst Violetta receives the visit of Alfredo’s father who asks her to end their relationship because his association with a person like her is tarnishing the whole family name. And if they stay together nobody will want to marry Alfredo’s sister. It’s pretty sad from then on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To play the dream role of 90% of sopranos the Met has brought two Marinas. The first is <b>Marina Poplavskaya</b> who actually opened this production at the Met some seasons ago. Again, I’m not a fan and her performance in this was actually filmed so you guys can judge for yourselves. Plus, isn’t she a bit old to have waist long hair? That hair is nothing special, don’t know why people make such a fuss about it. (Oh my, is that venom on my lips or what?). Our other Violetta is <b>Marina Rebeka</b>, now she was my first Donna Anna and she is just so good. She played this Donna Anna in the Met’s live in HD broadcast of Don Giovanni back in 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLsm-L6sE-g/U0G0QmDUXlI/AAAAAAAAB3U/qhbFBOV95RE/s1600/La-Traviata-DNO-Klaus-Lefebvre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLsm-L6sE-g/U0G0QmDUXlI/AAAAAAAAB3U/qhbFBOV95RE/s1600/La-Traviata-DNO-Klaus-Lefebvre.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1mMbHzeYjMw/U0G0Q78pz3I/AAAAAAAAB3Y/wOYmYFlo9Dg/s1600/Marina_Rebeka_La_Traviata_LYR131118_078_cTodd_Rosenberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1mMbHzeYjMw/U0G0Q78pz3I/AAAAAAAAB3Y/wOYmYFlo9Dg/s1600/Marina_Rebeka_La_Traviata_LYR131118_078_cTodd_Rosenberg.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For our love sick tenor we have the amazing <b>Stephen Costello</b> who is all sorts of awesome. I can’t help but feel sad because his wife Ailyn Pérez isn’t playing Violetta, she has played the part a billion times and oh so well plus they have insane chemistry on stage. Sharing the Alfredo duties with Stephen is <b>Francesco Demuro</b>. And last but not least papa Germont will be played by <b>Ludovic Tézier</b>aka the Severus Snape of opera (for that amongst other reasons I have sort of a crush on him). But he’s such a great singer, the very last thing I saw with him in was that Lucia I saw in a live stream back in July, he was playing Arturo, Lucia’s evil brother and he rocked it! (that’s when he got his HP nickname by the way).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pV05OY3Q5s/U0G0vZTHbFI/AAAAAAAAB3w/MkWjMY_oGKc/s1600/Francesco_Demuro_courtesy_of_IMGArtists.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pV05OY3Q5s/U0G0vZTHbFI/AAAAAAAAB3w/MkWjMY_oGKc/s1600/Francesco_Demuro_courtesy_of_IMGArtists.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YIn6U_sRiG8/U0G0vM4hUcI/AAAAAAAAB3s/6fBtC1RU8hw/s1600/Gala-2009-190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YIn6U_sRiG8/U0G0vM4hUcI/AAAAAAAAB3s/6fBtC1RU8hw/s1600/Gala-2009-190.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qrE4gC94SQ/U0G0ulo8sUI/AAAAAAAAB3o/CkfExH1qlvI/s1600/xl_avatar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qrE4gC94SQ/U0G0ulo8sUI/AAAAAAAAB3o/CkfExH1qlvI/s1600/xl_avatar.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Posts related to this;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/07/lucia-gives-me-chills.html" target="_blank">Lucia gives me the chills!</a>;&nbsp;<a href="http://unexpected-song.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/annick-massis-tons-of-talent-and.html" target="_blank">Annick Massis, tons of talent and sweetness</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Holiday Candy Crush!</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dhH7-bEnABg/U0G1cIbkjeI/AAAAAAAAB38/qLUrYB_Ytyo/s1600/6a00d83451c83e69e200e54f080c168833-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dhH7-bEnABg/U0G1cIbkjeI/AAAAAAAAB38/qLUrYB_Ytyo/s1600/6a00d83451c83e69e200e54f080c168833-800wi.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For the holiday presentation the Met is getting its huge chefs heads out of storage for an all English production of <b>Humperdinck</b>'s <b>Hansel und Gretel</b>. So the holiday presentations work something like this; they normally take a comedy or a happy ending opera, translate the whole thing to accessible English and do a rather unnecessary cutting session to the piece. I really like the idea of making something more accessible to a broader public but I find it thoroughly unnecessary to make cuts, if the piece is good it will grab people’s attention. But that’s just my opinion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Met has a great, fun and somewhat family friendly (the witch does have a freezer full of children hanging by hooks that you can actually see that’s a bit disturbing) production of Hansel and Gretel’s tale. It always makes me hungry because they get to eat all sorts of sweets at the second act but then again most things make me hungry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The story pretty much follows the original tale. Hansel and Gretel are brother and sister and their family is extremely poor. They have to do many chores around the house to help out their parents but all they want to do is play. During a bed jumping session they break the only milk jar in the house, their parents are furious and send them to the woods to pick up berries so they’ll have something to eat. They end up losing their way in the woods and as it gets dark start seeing what truly happens when the sun goes down. All sorts of odd and magical creatures appear in their dreams and when they wake up they happen upon a house made entirely of candy, chocolate and cake. The rest we all know, don’t we?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As Gretel the Met has called back <b>Christine Schafer</b> the soprano who actually originated this role in this production a few seasons ago. As she is a very petite woman with a very pretty voice and incredible acting skills she suits Gretel quite perfectly. As Hansel we have the mezzo soprano <b>Christine Rice</b>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr_RTz76XoU/U0G2mR0DkxI/AAAAAAAAB4E/chXeUnU6T98/s1600/Rigoletto1011.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr_RTz76XoU/U0G2mR0DkxI/AAAAAAAAB4E/chXeUnU6T98/s1600/Rigoletto1011.04.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8QCh-fgWy4/U0G2mY6dDKI/AAAAAAAAB4I/AZ51H4CaaSY/s1600/3-the_tales_of_hoffmann_christine_rice_credit_chris_christodoulou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8QCh-fgWy4/U0G2mY6dDKI/AAAAAAAAB4I/AZ51H4CaaSY/s1600/3-the_tales_of_hoffmann_christine_rice_credit_chris_christodoulou.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wow, that was time consuming but extremely&nbsp;satisfying! And I guess that's it for today guys. Today is Once Upon a Time day and I'm excited! I actually got a way to watch it live so it's pretty cool :) Peace everyone!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-83495415257323491552014-03-29T19:13:00.001-05:002014-03-29T19:18:11.444-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 8 - Jonas Kaufmann at Carnegie Hall<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey everyone!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Day 8 of my New York City journey was pretty cool. As always me and my mum spent our day shopping and eating. We went to Eataly which is this huge Italian food place that works as a market as well as a restaurant. We waited in line for about 40 minutes for a table at the pasta section and when it came to it the prices were high and the portions were little. I was very disappointed although the pasta was really good I left the restaurant hungry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But no matter because Jamie texted me and before I knew it I was in Washington Square Park meeting her and Mike! We had a lovely 30 minute chat and then she had to leave. I walked with Mike to the subway station and said yet another heartfelt goodbye. Then I rushed back to the Park where my mum was waiting for me. We got a cab and it was dark before we knew it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We went back to the hotel to get ready for Jonas Kaufmann’s big debut at Carnegie Hall with pianist </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Helmut Deutsch.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Needless to say that we were late and running down the icy streets of NYC in heels and holding extra hot lattes, I do love this life though! I did not, however, love having to go up ALL those stairs in heels and running because the recital was just about to begin. We got to our seats in the balcony and they were really steep and scary and there was barely any leg room which made us extremely uncomfortable. I was pretty pumped about this recital but the people were all so serious, it was very weird and my mum had THE GRUMPIEST man sitting next to her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTtvrOGgtdA/UzdgbSEYT7I/AAAAAAAABw8/jMCeqERNWBA/s1600/1661712_10152059279947713_496435799_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTtvrOGgtdA/UzdgbSEYT7I/AAAAAAAABw8/jMCeqERNWBA/s1600/1661712_10152059279947713_496435799_n.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>view from my seat</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I didn’t have much time to complain because in a moment there he was, my prince charming in the flesh, Jonas Kaufmann! Although I have to admit I did not know any of the songs he sang! There I’ve said it, it’s the truth and it’s better than just pretending I know what I’m talking about because I don’t. I’m an opera fan and I know a lot about opera and musicals and a little about Faure chanson for feminine voices, but I do not know these lieder. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a blast of a good time. Because Carnegie Hall does give you the lyrics and the translations so you can follow, so at least I knew what he was singing about. And come on, Jonas is one of the most captivating performers I’ve ever seen, he can steal your heart away with one well placed note. It was impossible for me not to have a wonderful time. Because seriously, hearing him in a recording is already so great but there is nothing that can compare to having that glorious sound waltz its way into your body and soul. His voice is like dark butter melting, I don’t even know if that makes sense, but it’s not like melting chocolate. Ah man, I’m letting my feelings get the best of this post! Bottom line people, GO HEAR JONAS KAUFMANN LIVE! Go, just go!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well first he did a selection of four songs from a Schumann cycle called <i>Zwölf Gedichte </i>(Twelve Poems, Op. 35). They were <i>Lust der Sturmnacht </i>(The Wild Night’s Joy); <i>Erstes Grün</i> (First Green); <i>Wanderung</i> (Wandering); <i>Stille Tränen</i> (Silent Tears). These are basically about what every good lied is about, nature and love and being in love while outside. But what I liked is all the different colors he brought to the table for each and every song he sang. He had a character for every single one of them. You could feel almost everyone was hooked (I say almost everyone because there’s always that old person who sleeps no matter how fantastic the event is) and that was quite obvious at the end of the cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then he did an entire Schumann cycle called <i>Dichterliebe </i>(A Poet’s Love, Op. 48). They were all so lovely and Jonas has this ability to just transport you to wherever he wants with his voice. It was quite amazing. I say voice because I was quite far away I couldn’t really see him very well but all he needed to do was open his mouth and the walls felt like they were gonna crumble down. He had quite an ovation after that cycle was done and came back two or three times to take a bow together with the pianist to quite a thunderous ovation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBk9KzCdcAk/Uzdg16eq9yI/AAAAAAAABxE/P4D6Ry_GOio/s1600/1779837_10203050515443231_1566255978_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBk9KzCdcAk/Uzdg16eq9yI/AAAAAAAABxE/P4D6Ry_GOio/s1600/1779837_10203050515443231_1566255978_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Time for intermission and my mom wasn’t feeling well at all so she left. I didn’t even get out of my seat, I just stayed there in awe of what I had just witnessed. And although I really liked the first part, the second was SO MUCH BETTER!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t know if it was my taste or the fact that the audience just seemed to have warmed up much more for the second half but it was incredible. First he sang a Wagner song cycle called <i>Wesendonck Lieder</i> (Wesendonck Songs, Op. 91). And I don’t know if I’m more accustomed to the Wagner language as opposed to the Schumann one but I felt he sang those Wagner lieder much better. A very special highlight to the second song called <i>Stehe still!</i> (Stand still!) because I folded the end of its page in my program which means I probably really liked it. And now that I come to think of it, it was quite powerful and I remember having my head in the clouds. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But my favorite bit was without a doubt the Franz Liszt songs. He did change the order of the songs for some mysterious reason but I wasn’t complaining. These 3 song were all in Italian and had a much more operatic feel to them. I remember quite clearly as he finished the first one it was SO GOOD that you could feel the people ALMOST clapping and some people were so enticed that they actually started screaming “BRAVO”. To that both Jonas and the entire audience laughed. When he sang his second song it was just as beautiful and operatic and it had one of those high tenor notes at the end that SERIOUSLY had ALL the human beings who feel attracted to man sigh. I know I did, I sighed all through it like my 13 year old self sighing at the sight of Legolas. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__qyLFzuIcM/Uzdg74L3gaI/AAAAAAAABxM/dsXBYB_iF8I/s1600/1797610_10152074109182713_1893167522_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__qyLFzuIcM/Uzdg74L3gaI/AAAAAAAABxM/dsXBYB_iF8I/s1600/1797610_10152074109182713_1893167522_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The third and final song from the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tre sonetti di Petrarca</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> cycle was just the cherry on top of the most heart racing performances I’d ever seen. People went NUTS when he finished! The clapping just would not stop and it was heaven. It totally felt like finally all those rules and conventions had crumbled down and he was just this great guy singing to a bunch of happy, happy people. I must admit, I screamed my head out! And specially because the lady sitting right in front of me had her hands over her ears and was looking viciously at everybody who would scream (she should get to know the grumpy guy who was sitting next to my mum, they are perfect for each other). And you know me, I don’t like people trying to reprimand me, so I took extra careful and powerful breaths so I could scream as loudly as I could without hurting my voice 1- because Jonas totally deserved it and 2- because she pissed me off. I would also clap really hard with my hands extra close to her head, yeah, I can be mean too!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">Jonas was over the moon and smiling and thanking everyone it was wonderful, but after he came back for 3 bows it was time for our encores. I must say that one thing that kinda disappointed me was the fact that he didn’t sing any operatic arias in his encores, but you can never have it all. First he sang R. Strauss’&nbsp;</span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Breit über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> and the moment he finished was overwhelmed by applause and screaming and some WE LOVE YOU JONAS, which you would like proper at Comic Con not Carnegie Hall but I just thought it was insanely cool.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Then he proceeded to sing 3 more Strauss songs <i>Heimliche Aufforderung</i></span>, <i>Freundliche Vision</i> and <i>Cäcilie</i>. And seriously, that was so much fun, because during the applause Jonas and the pianist would come out numerous times to take a bow and after the third encore we were really just clapping and screaming and freaking out because we appreciated his work. But then every time the pianist would come back holding sheet music I felt like that building was gonna come down. People were hysterical, I am not kidding, it was insane! I was hysterical too, it was just so amazing and he was so comfortable there singing to us and the responses were so powerful, it was really incredible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6J9_hadZZMY/UzdhDB52BAI/AAAAAAAABxY/jjktmENRx9o/s1600/1653569_10203050515763239_1969654260_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6J9_hadZZMY/UzdhDB52BAI/AAAAAAAABxY/jjktmENRx9o/s1600/1653569_10203050515763239_1969654260_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qmVVwdNvJlc/UzdhDG8dUtI/AAAAAAAABxU/dW_k68Kmpuc/s1600/1800132_10203050512843166_1023588370_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qmVVwdNvJlc/UzdhDG8dUtI/AAAAAAAABxU/dW_k68Kmpuc/s1600/1800132_10203050512843166_1023588370_o.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #edeff4; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Before the last Strauss song, which was the fourth encore, he addressed the audience and thanked everybody for that wonderful warm welcome. During his speech people would start screaming and someone screamed “THANK YOU JONAS” which resulted in more hysteria. I seriously felt like I was in Comic Con when they do actor’s panel of a beloved TV show or movie. Even Jonas was very surprised with this enthusiasm because as I wrote a couple of posts ago the reception for Werther was really amazing and very loud but this one was like twice even 3 times more noisy and warm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">He also said that he was singing so many songs by Strauss in the encores because he really did not want to leave him out of this program and that now we should stop celebrating so much Verdi and Wagner for their centenary and bicentenary birthdays and turn to the birthday boy of the year, Strauss. The audience laughed and then he proceeded to sing one more song this time by Schumann called <i>Mondnacht</i></span>. This was already too good to be true, 5 encores? The people were going insane and one very cool thing I noticed was that a very small number of people left during the encores. Because normally we know how this works, right? But everyone was so enticed and Jonas was so pumped it felt like he was never gonna stop! <span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Finally he sang his last encore Lehar’s </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Gern hab ich die Frau’n geküßt</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">. If you saw me you looking at him sing you would think 1 – this girl is gonna fall from her seat right to her death because she’s leaning forward too much 2 – is she in love? I had my hands holding my chin and sighed all the time feeling like the only person in the room and the luckiest person in the world. Because even though the audience was making a lot of noise as soon as the pianist started to play there would be literally dead silence. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7RK8uTA3QCc/UzdhL2TkDqI/AAAAAAAABxk/woUsHHIOe2Y/s1600/1780125_10203050512563159_135108151_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7RK8uTA3QCc/UzdhL2TkDqI/AAAAAAAABxk/woUsHHIOe2Y/s1600/1780125_10203050512563159_135108151_o.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #edeff4; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When he was bowing for the last encore he did a “that’s enough” hand sign and everyone laughed and clapped and clapped and clapped! I don’t think I ever clapped and screamed so much in my entire life! While gathering my stuff I got to meet a really cool guy who was sitting right behind me who also happened to be a singer. We talked enthusiastically about the concert until the people from Carnegie Hall kicked us out and then we walked together on the street for a while chatting about music and all sorts of thing. Then we headed our separate ways.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But that’s one of the reasons why I love NYC. The people there are just so COOL, all the people I’ve met at the opera house were absolutely incredible, and they were truly really nice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I guess that’s it for today guys! Hope you enjoyed this post and please leave a comment telling me what you think! Cheers!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: #EDEFF4; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PS; All these beautiful up close pictures were taken by my friend Felipe Cunha, thanks honey!</span></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-40031080880506825442014-03-23T19:07:00.001-05:002014-03-23T19:07:41.460-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 7 - Wicked and Pippin<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey world! So you guys might have noticed something different about the blog. Yeap I changed it up. I never had changed the layout or anything like that so I felt it was time for a change, let me know if you guys liked it in the comments!&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Over the past few days I’ve been a busy bee. I don’t know if I mentioned this here but I moved back to my parents place in Santos. It was the logical thing to do since I finished college in São Paulo and didn’t have anything there that tied me up to the city itself. &nbsp;And even if I got a part-time job there all my salary would go to paying rent. So I’m back in my beach cave. I had to bring all of my stuff from São Paulo to Santos and that’s a work in progress but most of my bedroom and bathroom stuff is already here. So I decided to do a little makeover on my bedroom, I cleaned up a lot of unnecessary stuff and donated a bunch of things I don’t use anymore. Plus I bought some shelves to make my live easier and my room less crowded. I’m planning on making a post about that soon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But let’s go back in time a month to my fabulous 7<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;day in NYC. I remember that it rained all day and so we thought that there wouldn’t be a soul who would want to stand in line for musical tickets at TKTS. We were wrong. Regardless of the rain the line went on and on, we could do nothing but join in and hope that when we got to the booth there would still be tickets for Pippin. You see some of my friends told me it was a fantastic show and their performance at the Tonys last year was quite remarkable. And so we stood in line, in the rain for about 45 minutes but were able to get nice seats at half the price for that matinee performance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As we were starving and wet we just went across the street to Oliver Garden for lunch. We did strike a conversation with a French guy who was like Prince Charming material when it came to his looks and also very, very nice. I did tell him that I had just seen a wonderful French opera the night before called Werther but that didn’t seem to ring a bell to him. No one is perfect, right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At almost two we said our goodbyes and headed off to the theater for <b>Pippin</b>. I felt like me and my mum were the only people in that theater that were watching this show for the first time, that sensation only grew as the show began. I’m still in awe how the whole dynamic of musical theater audiences and manners are SO different from opera. I think I’ve already said this in my Cinderella post but the overture works as a shut up mechanism and also at the end of the musical after everyone has had their rushed bows they keep on playing and people just leave and always a handful of people stay behind and acknowledge that there are real life people playing. Anyways, this hasn’t started very well hun?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wT9RvgBnJm4/Uy9luVH4uhI/AAAAAAAABsk/hju-9tk1QVY/s1600/1900138_10152056258617713_496072383_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wT9RvgBnJm4/Uy9luVH4uhI/AAAAAAAABsk/hju-9tk1QVY/s1600/1900138_10152056258617713_496072383_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">View from our Pippin seats</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The musical was fun, but it felt more like a night at the circus than a musical. From what I’ve heard this is an old musical but I seriously found it very difficult to find a tune that lingered. If I’m going to be totally honest here the music wasn’t all that interesting, at least in my opinion. And, come on, I’m a musician, if the music isn’t relevant what am I to do?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Let me tell you guys the story, it’s very weird and I don’t know if I got it right. So there’s this lady who owns a theater company or circus company, I don’t know, and they are performing the life of Pippin. But it’s weird because the performance takes place as he lives, and the boy playing Pippin is actually Pippin, or something. Anyways, she tells him he’s bound for greatness and being son of the king and heir to the throne that’s not really hard to believe. And so Pippin goes on and tries to do many things but he fails miserably. The numbers were really amazing, the performers were so good, they could twist and turn their bodies in ways I did not know were humanly possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFfGJmKfjbk/Uy9mu-IRwLI/AAAAAAAABss/W3iVn0pY5wM/s1600/pippin-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFfGJmKfjbk/Uy9mu-IRwLI/AAAAAAAABss/W3iVn0pY5wM/s1600/pippin-photo.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One great feature of this show was the narrator, circus company owner or whatever who was played by <b>Patina Miller</b>. Now Patina has a beautiful singing voice and I had seen her live before doing Sister Act, the musical which was so fantastic. She got a Tony award for this role in Pippin last year and no wonder since she works the&nbsp;trapeze while singing and it's just amazing!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dbj1c7zIRuA/Uy9naUn-x-I/AAAAAAAABs0/kUT9gH1YP7I/s1600/-Pippin-actor-Patina-Mill-010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dbj1c7zIRuA/Uy9naUn-x-I/AAAAAAAABs0/kUT9gH1YP7I/s1600/-Pippin-actor-Patina-Mill-010.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But the thing was, it felt 70% of the time like a circus act. Like I was in the circus watching contortionists and people balance themselves in unfriendly objects and to be completely honest I am not a fan of the circus. Now before you run away and never come back because you think I have no soul because I don’t like the circus, hear me out. I don’t like it for a very simple reason, it makes me nervous! I feel nervous for the people doing their acts knowing that sometimes they don’t have safety nets and that they could be jumping to their deaths and that’s not an idea of a good time for me. So as much as I was impressed by all they could do I was also freaked out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One incredible highlight was the grandmother, now, she was INCREDIBLE. Because then you had a 65 year old lady doing trapeze stuff with a hot, hot, hot guy and going like&nbsp;<i>‘yeah, I sail this ship!’</i>. That was awesome! Kudos for <b>Andrea Martin</b> who originated this role in this production and surprise, surprise, got a Tony for it last year. She is AWESOME. She did some operetta you know. She played the Old Lady in Candide some good old years ago. You might know her from the movie <i>My Big Fat Greek Wedding</i> (I LOVE THIS MOVIE, one of my favorites), she played aunt Voula. She was the aunt, Toula’s dad’s sister, she wore shoulder pads, she’s fab!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tyz4NN_r4i8/Uy9oLFnc5SI/AAAAAAAABs8/TOEGCON8o4E/s1600/Pippin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tyz4NN_r4i8/Uy9oLFnc5SI/AAAAAAAABs8/TOEGCON8o4E/s1600/Pippin2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, the musical was ok I guess, if you like big spectacles with complicated dance routines and unimaginable moves this is definitely for you. But as for the story, I am still trying to figure it out. And I find that there isn’t a real message, it’s all smoke and mirrors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J50Kn25hMLA/Uy9oV0bNilI/AAAAAAAABtE/scqlWs9L_tI/s1600/0414F_FELDBERG1_BD_40P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J50Kn25hMLA/Uy9oV0bNilI/AAAAAAAABtE/scqlWs9L_tI/s1600/0414F_FELDBERG1_BD_40P.jpg" height="640" width="443" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My mum didn’t like the musical at all. She was thoroughly disappointed so I decided to take her to see something I knew she loved, <b>Wicked</b>. We went to the Wicked theater and I texted Mike and proceeded to buy 3 hot seats for THE coolest, most awesome show on Broadway! I had some great tomato soup nearby the theater with my mum and then waited outside for Mike. He was late, but I think the funniest thing about us going in was that the usher who was zapping the tickets told me I couldn’t go inside with my coffee. So I did something quite alarming, I seriously drank the whole thing in one go right in front of them and even I was a little impressed that I could process so much caffeine at such short notice. I’m proud of me for that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We went in and took our seats and before we knew it overture hit us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v2XLqLOmCCc/Uy91mAuMZhI/AAAAAAAABvs/nzzz81nAr4Q/s1600/1622091_10152058565847713_568567576_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v2XLqLOmCCc/Uy91mAuMZhI/AAAAAAAABvs/nzzz81nAr4Q/s1600/1622091_10152058565847713_568567576_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">View from my wicked seat!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ok, I really love Wicked so this might extend itself a lot, it’s one of my favorite musicals. Sometimes I feel like such a baby, as soon as it started and that flying monkey appeared I was feeling the tears coming. Since I’m feeling generous about talking about musicals that rock I’m gonna go a lot deeper on this one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Wicked is the untold story of the Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West, <u>Elphaba</u>. The first scene is actually just after the bucket of water has been thrown on the Witch and she melted and the people rejoiced. So <u>Glinda</u>, the good, appears to confirm the facts and we have our first song&nbsp;<i>“No one mourns the wicked”</i>. I think the only thing I did not like about this was the fact that the girl playing Glinda was trying to imitate Kristen Chenoweth’s voice. We all know how Kristen sounds and bless her heart for her instrument and yes, she did originate Glinda but trying to sound like her made the girl sound squeaky and awful! When she started to sing me and Mike just looked at each other instantly like&nbsp;<i>“Oh no!”</i>&nbsp;.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hG0tGPkrj_Q/Uy9pa_3JeOI/AAAAAAAABtM/-F17t10p-SQ/s1600/OAAAAE1WSO5LcWf6H4MrVWP1KdvaF0yu1mNsiLsUtPF7C3uduOx3TYSimunuu9POXfjVex1Tt68hGzAz-cPs59S4l8QAm1T1UGQiUbQVORcegynWl9daE8yJOS7S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hG0tGPkrj_Q/Uy9pa_3JeOI/AAAAAAAABtM/-F17t10p-SQ/s1600/OAAAAE1WSO5LcWf6H4MrVWP1KdvaF0yu1mNsiLsUtPF7C3uduOx3TYSimunuu9POXfjVex1Tt68hGzAz-cPs59S4l8QAm1T1UGQiUbQVORcegynWl9daE8yJOS7S.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FuYPm1weG3M/Uy9pzHcpBtI/AAAAAAAABtc/zyns5BMgDKY/s1600/wicked-g10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FuYPm1weG3M/Uy9pzHcpBtI/AAAAAAAABtc/zyns5BMgDKY/s1600/wicked-g10.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Kristen Chenoweth in 2003 as Glinda</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One of the people asks Glinda if it’s true that she was the Wicked Witch’s friend. Glinda is a little taken aback by that and we flashback to the time they were in college together. One thing that was pretty awesome about this performance was that when Glinda showed up there was a huge ovation for her and when Elphaba showed also, the house felt like it was coming down. And people proceeded to cheer A LOT after songs, during songs when they would do some nice vocal line. It just felt great to have that freedom, it can feel kind of constricted in the opera house with all the rules and the etiquette.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well we flash back and Elphaba walks in and huge ovation right there. But her fellow classmates don’t think she’s as awesome as we know she is and nobody really likes her because she’s green and has a little bit of an attitude. Her father actually only sent her there to take care of her handicap sister, <u>Nessa</u>, who is a perfectly normal color. The father is not a real fan of Elphie (what a jerk) and dotes on his other daughter openly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As for Galinda she’s a very spoiled young woman who always gets what she wants. And now she wants to do a witchcraft seminar with the headmistress of the school, Madam Morrible. Things get tangled and Elphaba gets assigned to share a room with Galinda and as they protest Elphie gets nervous and does some magic. The headmistress is impressed and tells Elphaba she will teach her privately and take other students plus giving a ring to the Wizard of Oz about her.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BahregpkYjY/Uy9qrpnma_I/AAAAAAAABto/Vhj94ZlR65I/s1600/stage_0511_04a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BahregpkYjY/Uy9qrpnma_I/AAAAAAAABto/Vhj94ZlR65I/s1600/stage_0511_04a.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O6U7bt5-wqY/Uy9rUR39b1I/AAAAAAAABtw/oWBXYsGHyc4/s1600/stage_0508_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O6U7bt5-wqY/Uy9rUR39b1I/AAAAAAAABtw/oWBXYsGHyc4/s1600/stage_0508_06.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Shoshana Bean as Elphaba in the left and Megan Hilty as Glinda in the right&nbsp;</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Elphaba then proceeds to sing one of the coolest songs in the whole musical </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Wizard and I</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. The girl who was playing Elphaba wasn’t the principal and not even the first replacement and she rocked! I mean, she was SO good and it amazing! She had very good technique which allowed her to play with the song and really feel it and it was really quite incredible.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRXxNcJgfc4/Uy9r7uXQ1NI/AAAAAAAABt0/zQ_Y_gEMQM8/s1600/wicked-shiz8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRXxNcJgfc4/Uy9r7uXQ1NI/AAAAAAAABt0/zQ_Y_gEMQM8/s1600/wicked-shiz8.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Idina Menzel as Elphaba, she originated this role</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As life proceeded in school Elphaba wasn’t popular at all but found friendship with her history teacher who also happened to be a goat! In Oz animals were just like people, they talk and are sometimes even more intelligent than humans. But the professor warned her that something odd was happening and that he’d been hearing rumors of animals not being allowed to live out their lives as they always had and who had forgotten how to speak!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A new guy arrives in the university named <u>Fiyero</u> and he’s the perfect personification of a charming bad boy, killer looks and lack of sense of responsibility. He sings about how we should all dance through life and not think of our problems and only have a good time (<i>Dancing through life</i>). Galinda and Fiyero come to the conclusion they were made for each other. When a munchkin named <u>Boq</u> tries to ask her out Galinda tells him how the guy who asked Elphaba’s sister out would be her hero he hurries to do just that.</span></span>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ScTrrGMH0pk%2FUy9s9MW40LI%2FAAAAAAAABuA%2FH6H6kSqxfxI%2Fs1600%2Fstage_0508_09.jpg&amp;container=blogger&amp;gadget=a&amp;rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ScTrrGMH0pk/Uy9s9MW40LI/AAAAAAAABuA/H6H6kSqxfxI/s1600/stage_0508_09.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V5irUFJ8iv4/Uy9uZtJuZ-I/AAAAAAAABuM/uFS2dWLMJG4/s1600/tumblr_m7cok6sNFq1qzc39ho1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V5irUFJ8iv4/Uy9uZtJuZ-I/AAAAAAAABuM/uFS2dWLMJG4/s1600/tumblr_m7cok6sNFq1qzc39ho1_500.png" height="400" width="301" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KIIuG3GEBSI/Uy9uzmfUL2I/AAAAAAAABuU/eQO4vqCUzVk/s1600/wicked2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KIIuG3GEBSI/Uy9uzmfUL2I/AAAAAAAABuU/eQO4vqCUzVk/s1600/wicked2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So everyone is going to this big party and Galinda being the self-centered person that she is gives Elphaba a pointy black hat telling her it’s the latest fashion. &nbsp;But just as Elphaba arrives at the party wearing the hat and everyone proceeds to laugh at her, the headmistress goes up to Galinda and tells her she can be in the witchcraft lessons because Elphaba insisted she also took them. Now Galinda is feeling like the worst person in the face of the planet and Elphaba starts doing a crazy dance all by herself while others watch and laugh. Galinda joins her in dancing and before you know it everyone is dancing quite a beautiful choreography and finally accepting Elphaba.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uimYu3Nuzt4/Uy9vQ74gOWI/AAAAAAAABuk/YebkwqxSHtw/s1600/OgAAAA3wkXf8J-XXPA2werYXZz1PU1MjxWmNlF_FOki6Ej-xJOMOJvIgxO5DShyqoyVS8d4adueFEk7kXBsizl-R5fkAm1T1ULiQvtI1by975uB-jF9-m5sr5XER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uimYu3Nuzt4/Uy9vQ74gOWI/AAAAAAAABuk/YebkwqxSHtw/s1600/OgAAAA3wkXf8J-XXPA2werYXZz1PU1MjxWmNlF_FOki6Ej-xJOMOJvIgxO5DShyqoyVS8d4adueFEk7kXBsizl-R5fkAm1T1ULiQvtI1by975uB-jF9-m5sr5XER.jpg" height="221" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Galinda and Elphaba bond and Galinda tells her that she’s going to give her a makeover and teach her how to popular in a very funny song of that said name. Even though the girl was imitating Kristen it wasn’t all that bad because she sounded real funny in the spoken bits and she did add her own personal touch to the character which made her even funnier. &nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y7cil2LZVZg/Uy9vjhIkmNI/AAAAAAAABus/pCoMDZSIlvc/s1600/OgAAACqFDN_ut2aynBVAvW0wRg7Pb7pha51sdQP9YKnSeo0PW9ko6Pdi2RFuCpRmHDa2mdaQRCXOqgWTzCZ2NVo_uHYAm1T1UOU4SPA7XldoysAt2xTGOvFOqFCh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y7cil2LZVZg/Uy9vjhIkmNI/AAAAAAAABus/pCoMDZSIlvc/s1600/OgAAACqFDN_ut2aynBVAvW0wRg7Pb7pha51sdQP9YKnSeo0PW9ko6Pdi2RFuCpRmHDa2mdaQRCXOqgWTzCZ2NVo_uHYAm1T1UOU4SPA7XldoysAt2xTGOvFOqFCh.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that things start to look up for Elphaba but one day they fire her goat teacher, Dr. Dillamod and bring into the classroom a cage with a lion cub preaching how good these things are for animals because then they will never learn how to speak. Elphaba is enraged by this and uses her powers to make an escape with the lion cub and Fiyero who helps her. There’s an awkward moment between the two as they free the lion cub but Elphaba knows they can never be (<i>I’m not that girl</i>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The wizard wants to meet Elphaba so he invites her to go to the Emerald City. Galinda isn’t really well because ever since that day with the lion cub Fiyero has been different, as she herself says <i>“He’s been thinking!”</i> which apparently isn’t a good thing. And he indeed seems changed somehow, concerned about their goat professor. Galinda in an attempt to seem worried about the teacher states that since the professor never could pronounce her name correctly she would change her name to Glinda. (What? Yeah!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_rzdc72Xbg/Uy9wMlVD-QI/AAAAAAAABu0/8VuU0UcAPzI/s1600/OgAAAMd3z4LUVcRz9azySPq1jQKH7LcqWEoBTNxH5r-g4IApTnPjGeypysE9c7ZKaczSPE8F8YMmMNSGjpZEDhBuoSMAm1T1UGO7dY31BukDMYEhwf2D8rJYxao7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_rzdc72Xbg/Uy9wMlVD-QI/AAAAAAAABu0/8VuU0UcAPzI/s1600/OgAAAMd3z4LUVcRz9azySPq1jQKH7LcqWEoBTNxH5r-g4IApTnPjGeypysE9c7ZKaczSPE8F8YMmMNSGjpZEDhBuoSMAm1T1UGO7dY31BukDMYEhwf2D8rJYxao7.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Elphaba invites Glinda to go to the Emerald City with her and off they go! But when Elphaba finally gets to meet the Wizard harsh reality punches her in the face. Because you see, she wanted to tell him of all the things people had been doing to animals so he could stop it, but the thing was, he was actually behind all that. Furthermore he possessed no magic whatsoever, that’s why he was so interested in her, she had magic that could help him carry on his plan to separate humans from animals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After learning all this Elphaba panics, grabs the spell book and runs for the roof. Glinda follows her. Elphaba can’t work for the wizard after all she’s heard and is resolute in running away and telling everyone the truth about the wizard. But as soon as she’s out his door he announces that she stole his spell book and that she’s a liar and wicked. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">That leaves Elphie with very little options but to run, she enchants a broom for it to fly and asks Glinda if she would come with her. But Glinda decides to stay behind and hold off the guards so Elphaba can escape and there’s that moment that my eyes fill with tears and my mouth hangs open, when she freaking flies. I know how the whole thing works, where the machine holds her and how the effect is made but still it’s so freaking perfect that it does indeed seem as if she’s flying and quite literally Defying Gravity. End of act one with screams, tears and cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VHop2YruniE/Uy9yP6GQqfI/AAAAAAAABvE/p950ptZrlXE/s1600/the_broadway_musical_wicked-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VHop2YruniE/Uy9yP6GQqfI/AAAAAAAABvE/p950ptZrlXE/s1600/the_broadway_musical_wicked-1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On to act two and it opens with one of my favorite songs, <i>Thank Goodness</i>. Some time has passed and Glinda has been appointed to be Glinda, the good, kind of like a cheerleader to spread joy and hope to the people of OZ, or something. And Fiyero is now the captain of the Wizard’s guard and Elphaba is still in the run. The people from Oz now believe all sorts of weird things about Elphaba, like that she has a third eye, or that she can change her skin and even that her soul in so impure pure water can melt her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NxlwauilsL0/Uy9yEEFi0zI/AAAAAAAABvA/z5iMqfDXpos/s1600/5010419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NxlwauilsL0/Uy9yEEFi0zI/AAAAAAAABvA/z5iMqfDXpos/s1600/5010419.jpg" height="400" width="358" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While that happens we are brought to the estate of Elphaba’s family for she goes there to ask aid from her sister. Her sister is not at all happy to see her and confronts her, telling her that she never ever used her powers to help her get out of her wheelchair. Elphaba is taken aback but puts a spell on her sister’s diamond shoes and as they burn up and turn into ruby her sister can finally walk. She calls on Boq and tells him now they can be happy together because she can walk. But Boq is in love with Glinda and now that Nessa can walk he can finally tell Glinda how he feels. Those news are not welcome to Nessa who is so mad and so desperate to have Boq’s heart to herself that she starts chanting something from Elphaba’s spell book and Boq starts tugging his chest. Elphaba tries desperately to fix her sister’s mistake and after she’s taken care of Boq she goes away. We can’t see Boq and as he wakes up and comes out of his hiding place we see he’s become the Tin man, he has no heart. PRETTY COOL!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Elphaba heads off to the Wizard’s place to try and free the winged monkeys she created by accident. The wizard finds her and tries to convince her to come to his side and he almost succeeds. He calls on the guards and who shows up but Fiyero who is absolutely stunned to see Elphaba and in a heartbeat has his riffle pointed to the Wizard and is telling Elphaba to run. Glinda arrives just to see this exchange and then Fiyero makes the decision to go with Elphaba. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rygvfYkXCH4/Uy9zW76lZLI/AAAAAAAABvQ/ch7tbxUgklk/s1600/OgAAAPTtPgsz4lF3uVE8GtzRth2Q1a7sSTvK7Zw-fljoQbAmOeojlmQNKrWJjighj1AaZuLQBs3Dy67TDg6aTzNHQn8Am1T1UJJYD8HPtjpD9ntS1bynvyqmk_K5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rygvfYkXCH4/Uy9zW76lZLI/AAAAAAAABvQ/ch7tbxUgklk/s1600/OgAAAPTtPgsz4lF3uVE8GtzRth2Q1a7sSTvK7Zw-fljoQbAmOeojlmQNKrWJjighj1AaZuLQBs3Dy67TDg6aTzNHQn8Am1T1UJJYD8HPtjpD9ntS1bynvyqmk_K5.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now it’ Glinda’s turn to sing <i>I’m not that girl</i>. Since she’s very upset she tells the Wizard that to get to Elphaba he should make her believe that something had happened to her sister. But the wizard knows that Elphaba is too smart and a rumor won’t do and that’s why a house was dropped on Nessa, the wicked witch of the East.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But before that happened Fiyero and Elphaba are having a romantic and fiery duet about how much they care for each other. It’s pretty hot. Elphaba though senses there’s something wrong and rushes to where her sister was and BAM, she’s been hit by a house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oPFVOn1qPQo/Uy90EllSS5I/AAAAAAAABvU/oxVR0ch7nUA/s1600/stage_0508_22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oPFVOn1qPQo/Uy90EllSS5I/AAAAAAAABvU/oxVR0ch7nUA/s1600/stage_0508_22.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Glinda is there paying her respects to Nessa and when Elphaba arrives they have an awesome catfight. The guards seize Elphaba and just as they are about to take her away Fiyero appears and holds Glinda as a hostage so Elphaba can escape. She does but he is seized and condemned to die. As Elphaba gets to his abandoned castle she’s trying to do any kind of magic to save him (<i>No good deed</i>). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jl3T4gl6WI0/Uy90ZofEyZI/AAAAAAAABvc/XV5xesRjcO4/s1600/wicked-b4defy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jl3T4gl6WI0/Uy90ZofEyZI/AAAAAAAABvc/XV5xesRjcO4/s1600/wicked-b4defy2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When Glinda arrives in her castle Elphaba is pretty much defeated and doesn’t believe that even with all her power she can make a change for the better. So she hands her spell book to Glinda and says <i>“Now it’s up to, for both of us”</i> and they sing one of the most beautiful and tear producing duets in musical theater history, <i>For Good</i>. It’s about friendship and it lasting forever, I sing it with my sister and with my good, good friend Paula, I love them. Anyways, I cried a lot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FKmb7mR3dY/Uy90uKVODMI/AAAAAAAABvk/GkOc-uI27Fw/s1600/stage_0508_24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FKmb7mR3dY/Uy90uKVODMI/AAAAAAAABvk/GkOc-uI27Fw/s1600/stage_0508_24.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And then we see that iconic scene from The Wizard of Oz, the little girl throwing a bucket of water on her and Elphaba melting through a sheet, so we only shadows. When the sheet is drawn the only thing that’s left is Elphaba’s black hat that Glinda gave her all that time ago. I’m crying just writing this,&nbsp; you can imagine how I was when I was actually seeing this, hot mess. Glinda takes the hat and goes on her bubble and we come back to the first scene of the musical.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Glinda then proceeds to send the wizard away because he wasn’t even from the land of Oz, he’s from our world. He did spend the whole show drinking from a green bottle when in distress and Glinda says she’s only seen another green bottle like that with one other person, Elphaba. The bottle belonged to her mother, and then we find out that Elphaba was actually the Wizard’s daughter and the reason why she had such powers was because she was a child of both worlds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As the cries of joy from the people diminish a scarecrow enters and hits the floor 3 times and opens it up. He cries <i>“It worked!”.</i> Elphaba comes out from the trap door and we then learn that her spell was able to save Fiyero from execution but it had also transformed him into a scarecrow. And so they head off to another world never turning back to Oz and their friend Glinda never knowing that they were both alive. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Isn’t this like the best fanfiction ever written or what? The story of this musical is based on a book by Gregory Maguire who based her story in the Wizard of Oz movie and book, meaning, fanfiction.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TfEg33vJRsE/Uy91za-_0MI/AAAAAAAABv0/pn58kfSOadc/s1600/1962716_10152058009342713_1364235508_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TfEg33vJRsE/Uy91za-_0MI/AAAAAAAABv0/pn58kfSOadc/s1600/1962716_10152058009342713_1364235508_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Mike and me after the show</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well after the musical me and Mike went to the stage door because we wanted to congratulate the lady playing Elphaba. But it was so weird. There were a lot of people waiting out in the cold and some of the performers came out and autographed their programs and took pictures. Then suddenly this lady comes up to the line and says </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Those are all the performers who will be coming out from this door tonight”</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> and everybody leaves. Neither Elphaba nor Glinda came out to greet all those girls who were standing in the cold, I thought that was preposterous. I mean, seasoned stars from the Met, people who are so much bigger and older than these ladies come out the stage door every time and greet their fans. And don’t start me with <i>“They are tired” “It’s a tough show”</i> because 1- they wear microphones and 2 – Renée Fleming was also tired but she talked to everyone, signed everything she was given and took pictures with everyone that asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, after that me and Mike headed to Greenwich Village to meet our Russian friends of a late dinner or something. Getting there we happened to stumble upon a drunk opera student and it was hilarious, he made us add him on facebook right then. We met our friends in a diner and we just hanged out there, talked, ate, it was really fun! But then Mike had to pack and my mum was already freaking out so we left at about 1, 2 in the morning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AaNbfHtRREo/Uy92fP3TzlI/AAAAAAAABv8/GheN-goRTEI/s1600/894051_10152058270472713_1037563823_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AaNbfHtRREo/Uy92fP3TzlI/AAAAAAAABv8/GheN-goRTEI/s1600/894051_10152058270472713_1037563823_o.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">aren't we adorable?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On our way back uptown we met the nicest couple and talked to them for a bit. Mike left and we had this big hug moment and I was so sad he was leaving! The couple was really moved by our exchange and then I found out that, surprise, surprise, they were both opera singers! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And that’s basically it, that day was fun! Jut so you guys know the pictures from Wicked are from many different casts throughout the 10 years it's been on Broadway but I did put in more pictures of Shoshana Bean as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Glinda because they are my favorites!&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And now it' freaking Once Upon a Time time PLUS the comeback of the last season of Drop Dead Diva! Tonight is gonna be awesome! Peace everyone!</span></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-10668163080314452072014-03-19T11:12:00.000-05:002014-03-27T09:31:05.405-05:00The 2014/2015 Metropolitan Opera Season (part 1)<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hiya everyone! Doing that 50 random facts about me post was a lot of fun, thank you all for the responses!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t know why but awesome things always happen when I’m about to embark a plane or am already in it. Like January of last year there was a radio stream of Susan Graham’s and Renée Fleming’s recital at Carnegie Hall and I was flying. Or when I was flying back to Brazil last October and there was a fabulous Norma broadcast with Sondra. And just as I was embarking the plane to go to NYC last month the 2014/2015 season of the Met was announced. I was indeed a sight to see that day, making my way from the terminal to the plane clutching my phone and reading cast lists as I almost knocked several people with my carryon bag. Plus the fact that I was squealing like an idiot every time I saw they were doing an opera I liked or that someone I like was gonna be in this or that opera. Main point, there was a lot of squealing and rejoicing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Most of these operas I know and love and others I’m dying to see so it’s gonna be a pretty fun season. My plan was to talk about all the 24 operas of the season in one post but it turns out I get overly excited writing about stuff I really like so I’ll do the following: A four post series with my thoughts on each of the operas from the new season of the Metropolitan Opera and also a little helpful synopsis of each. So here come the first 6:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Opening the Season with Figaro!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;<i>New Production</i></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">YAY! YES, YES, YES! </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mozart </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">God, yes! First of all it’s high time they opened a season with the incomparable Mozart (one of my favorite composers) and second who doesn’t love a comedy? Not to mention that this is going to be a new production of </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Le Nozze di Figaro</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> after quite a while with the old one. How old is it? I’ve seen pictures of that production with Bryn Terfel as Figaro that dated back to 1994, so 20 years at least. High time they did something new, hun? And I most certainly cannot wait to see what they will come up with.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gm7G9WH_rCI/Uym0KOjausI/AAAAAAAABpg/VA3zpzuT_qc/s1600/lenozze.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gm7G9WH_rCI/Uym0KOjausI/AAAAAAAABpg/VA3zpzuT_qc/s1600/lenozze.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart back in 1786 and it may come as a shock to us but it didn’t have a very warm welcome back then. It’s because Mozart was one of the first composers to start to write operas about the everyday people as opposed to writing about the Gods and myths. He wanted opera to be something that everyone could enjoy, not only the aristocracy. The opera is based on a play by <i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Beaumarchais</span></i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> that is actually the second part of a trilogy, the first part is called <i>Le Barbier de Séville</i>. Does that name remind you of anything? Yes, Mozart’s opera was the continuation of the story of The Barber of Seville that years later would also be transformed into a “hit” opera by Gioachino Rossini.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So the opera is set in the Count’s (Peter Mattei) estate during the day of Figaro’s (Ildar Abdrazakov) wedding to Susanna (Marlis Petersen). The thing is, the Count is kind of a jerk and cheats on his wife constantly and has set his eyes on Susanna of all people. But Figaro is an ingenious and smart guy and will do all he can to marry Susanna regardless of the Count’s advances and schemes. In the middle of this hurricane of a day we also have Cherubino (Isabel Leonard), a young man who is ready to help Figaro but who also can’t control his hormones and falls for every lady he sees, but is helplessly in love with the Countess (Marina Poplavskya). The Countess was once a witty and happy gal but today being with a man who cheats on her and don’t give her the time of day has become melancholic and miserable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now on to the cast, I’m so thrilled that our star of the night is going to be <b>Ildar Abdrazakov</b>because he’s such an incredible singer. I had the absolute pleasure of not only seeing him in Prince Igor live but also of talking to him and as a person and as a performer he is SUPER! I have never heard of his co-star <b>Marlis Petersen</b> who is playing Susanna but I’m more than glad with the great picks with <b>Peter Mattei</b> as the Count and <b>Isabel Leonard</b> as Cherubino. I’m not a big fan of <b>Marina Poplavskaya</b> so I’m not particularly excited about her playing the Countess (my favorite character) for me her and Elina Garanca are battling to the death for the crown of Ice Queen of Opera. (did I just say that out loud?)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R72HIzYUbmw/Uym1ID3kB3I/AAAAAAAABpo/KCq8mN_mgQk/s1600/ildarmarlis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R72HIzYUbmw/Uym1ID3kB3I/AAAAAAAABpo/KCq8mN_mgQk/s1600/ildarmarlis.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Ildar Abdrazakov (left) as King Henry in Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Marlis Petersen (right) as Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GwSVcrPWLOY/Uym11NQvFqI/AAAAAAAABpw/S9DZJh1o1fo/s1600/peterisabelmarina.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GwSVcrPWLOY/Uym11NQvFqI/AAAAAAAABpw/S9DZJh1o1fo/s1600/peterisabelmarina.png" height="231" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Peter Mattei (left) as Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbieri di Siviglia, Isabel Leonard (center) as Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito and Marina Poplavskaya (right) as Elisabeth in Verdi's Don Carlo&nbsp;</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is one of my favorite Mozart operas and an absolute MUST for anybody interested in learning a little bit more about opera and also a blast of a lot of fun! And if you can’t go to NYC to see this beauty, don’t worry because it’s included in the Live in HD program for the 2014/2015 season, YAY!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Down to the Latin Quarter<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">La Boheme</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> totally never gets old, I particularly never tire of it. I think the Met made this season thinking of me because they are doing so many things I love, ah well, thank you guys! <b>Puccini</b> is one of my favorite composers, probably my favorite for Italian opera, I don’t know, Verdi is also quite dear to me, depends on what I’m singing at the moment actually. Anyways this is one of the most traditional and beloved productions of the Metropolitan Opera by Franco Zeffirelli and it’s getting 15 performances this season. It’s really like a dream of a production, very traditional and faithful to what you might have seen back in Puccini’s day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXuQXDRonTE/Uym3Ha0a-GI/AAAAAAAABp8/rgtdLk-zirw/s1600/opera-review-la-boheme-2010-12-2-13-30-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXuQXDRonTE/Uym3Ha0a-GI/AAAAAAAABp8/rgtdLk-zirw/s1600/opera-review-la-boheme-2010-12-2-13-30-9.jpg" height="256" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>second act of the Met's production of La Boheme</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">La Boheme tells the love story of a poor poet, Rodolfo, and an even poorer flower maker, Mimi, who live in the Latin Quarter, a location in Paris that back in the beginning last century was where impoverish people lived, especially artists. Their love is poisoned not only by Mimi’s disease but also by Rodolfo’s incontrollable jealousy. Marcello, a painter who lives with Rodolfo, is also living his own love dilemma, he’s in love with the singer Musetta but she left him to be with a rich old man. The couple goes back and forth during the whole opera and could be considered the ‘comic relief’. But La Boheme is not just the story, it’s also the exquisite music and unforgettable melodies of Puccini that take us on a journey and accompany us on our way home after we cried our eyes out at the end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The cast is superb! First of all this opera will mark </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Angela Gheorghiu</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">’s return to the Met after 3 seasons of absence (I think, I'm not sure, but I’m sure about 3 seasons of her not doing anything at the Met). And people can say whatever they want about her, that she’s crazy, an over the top diva, maybe she is, I don’t know her, but what I know is that she is SUCH a great singer. Especially when she sings Puccini and Mimi is one of her signature roles. It’s one of the things that she does perfectly that many try to imitate (believe me I’ve seen people try first hand) and can never accomplish. So that’s pretty exciting. Also playing the role of Mimi we have </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Kristine Opolais</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;who I heard sing a beautiful Magda in La Rondine at the Met back in January of last year so I'm sure she's going to do a wonderful job with Mimi and </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ekaterina Scherbachenko</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> who I've never heard of. As Rodolfo the fabulous and so cool tenor </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bryan Hymel</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> will be sharing the job with Mexican tenor </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ramon Vargas</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. I do have a preference towards Bryan because he’s so young and so fresh and he has the look and the voice of a youthful Rodolfo and I imagine he’s up to the job to shake things up a bit when it comes to playing this part.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnOYBh5xEUA/Uym4rzQu62I/AAAAAAAABqI/QvzlHw9wCEA/s1600/kristineangelaekaterina.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnOYBh5xEUA/Uym4rzQu62I/AAAAAAAABqI/QvzlHw9wCEA/s1600/kristineangelaekaterina.png" height="215" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kristine Opolais (left) as Magda in Puccini's La Rondine and Angela Gheorghiu (center) and Ekaterina Scherbachenko (right) as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zFVko8_l_sM/Uym5Up8VanI/AAAAAAAABqQ/gQWIm8ozTsA/s1600/ramonbryan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zFVko8_l_sM/Uym5Up8VanI/AAAAAAAABqQ/gQWIm8ozTsA/s1600/ramonbryan.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Ramon Vargas (left) as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Bryan Hymel (right) as Aeneas in Berlioz's Les Troyans</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I must admit I have never seen this opera but I’m more than familiar with the Shakespeare play. I love it that there are so many operas in the repertoire that tell stories written by Shakespeare. This for me is one of the most dark and heavy of his works that I’ve read, filled with death, greed, hunger for power and madness. The perfect ingredients for an opera, especially <b>Verdi</b>opera!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COvbWPNM0XA/Uym6mfdlB9I/AAAAAAAABq8/ajOCXXhAntw/s1600/BroadcastMacBcst2hdl312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COvbWPNM0XA/Uym6mfdlB9I/AAAAAAAABq8/ajOCXXhAntw/s1600/BroadcastMacBcst2hdl312.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t know what line the opera follows but the original story goes something like this: Macbeth (Zeljko Lucic) just won a very important battle for his king, king Duncan, with his buddy Banquo (René Pape). They are visited by 3 witches that tell them of a prophecy that basically says that Macbeth is going to be king and that Banquo will father a king but will never be one himself. So when Macbeth tells his half crazed, power lust wife Lady Macbeth (Anna Netrebko) about this prophecy she makes him kill king Duncan so he’ll be king by basically telling him he’s a chicken he if doesn’t. And then all hell breaks loose and it’s a super bloody story but it’s Shakespeare, meaning that it’s amazing regardless of the amount of blood that is spilled!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now for the cast we have the newbie for the role <b>Anna Netrebko</b> as Lady Macbeth. She has finally given up on the roles that made her famous (Adina, Juliette…) and moved on to a heavier repertoire (Tatiana, Leonora…) and Lady Macbeth sure is heavy from who I’ve heard. But Anna is a very incredible artist, I’m sure she’ll do great. <b>Zeljko Lucic</b> plays Macbeth and he is a performer who is more than used to the heavy Verdian repertoire, his Rigoletto is fantastic and I’m sure his Macbeth will be just as great. In this cast we also have <b>Joseph Calleja</b> as Malduff and <b>René Pape</b> as Banquo two performers I really like and look forward to seeing singing this opera. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mTvRO2dYu1A/Uym7RPlQDaI/AAAAAAAABrE/571CxBCp1P8/s1600/Portrait_081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mTvRO2dYu1A/Uym7RPlQDaI/AAAAAAAABrE/571CxBCp1P8/s1600/Portrait_081.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Zeljko Lucic</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m9Xd_R1QoI/Uym6VUpSOeI/AAAAAAAABqg/kNhSf5P4mus/s1600/annabryanrene.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m9Xd_R1QoI/Uym6VUpSOeI/AAAAAAAABqg/kNhSf5P4mus/s1600/annabryanrene.png" height="195" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anna Netrebko (left), Joseph Calleja (center) and Rene Pape (right)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is the opera that’s gonna open the Live in HD series on October 11</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, the peeps from the Met just had to open SOMETHING with Anna Netrebko, right? If not the season, be it the HD series.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tale as old as time</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Although I really like this repertoire I can’t help but feel that they just put this together by choosing the top 20 of most famous operas of all time. And <b>Bizet</b>’s <b>Carmen</b> is definitely in the top 10 and it’s getting 16 performances this season. I have a very difficult history with this opera because you see I had to endure a group of people rehearse this piece for months on and to be totally honest they weren’t very good. So every time I heard the songs I would remember that incessant screeching I had to listen to almost every afternoon for 4 months and that just does something to your brain. It took a great deal of different kinds of productions and casts (good ones) to erase that memory, but now I’m pleased to announce I have been cured for a while.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93BOsHl2wLU/Uym8Fsav3mI/AAAAAAAABrM/HObyx6CwCZU/s1600/articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93BOsHl2wLU/Uym8Fsav3mI/AAAAAAAABrM/HObyx6CwCZU/s1600/articleLarge.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Carmen is this feisty and hot headed gypsy that every guy wants to have because she’s so sensual or something (sorry guys, I’m a soprano, sopranos usually have this perception of Carmen, but that’s just because we can never play her). But of course Carmen is the kind of girl who can have all guys drooling over her but she wants the ONLY ONE who doesn’t seem impressed by her seduction skills. That’s Don José who is a very goodie pants kind of guy and he is also engaged to be married to his childhood sweetheart Micaela. But Carmen won’t rest until he gives into her, which he eventually does but what she wasn’t counting on was just how possessive he could become and ultimately dangerous.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As Carmen two very different mezzos have been cast and neither of them is a stranger to this production. <b>Elina</b> <b>Garanca</b> was the first Carmen to do this new production by Richard Eyre, she actually substituted Angela Gheorghiu who, rumor has it, had this production made for herself and her husband but latter felt this wasn’t right for her and quit. We also have the AMAZING <b>Anita Rachvelishvili</b> to portray the gypsy and let me tell you, this woman is SO good! I saw her in Prince Igor and she was absolute perfection and I’ve also seen her do Carmen in a La Scala production on DVD and she just has all that warmth and lush colors in her voice and her body language and performance that the later does not possess. As Don José we have <b>Aleksandrs Antonenko</b>&nbsp;he played the Foreign Prince to Renée Fleming's Rusalka a couple of years ago at the Met. We have&nbsp;<b>Roberto</b> <b>Alagna</b> who has played this role about a billion times and was the tenor that opened this production together with Garanca in 2009. And the ever so charming and perfect <b>Jonas Kaufmann</b> (but he’s only doing two performances). From what I could find out <b>Ildar Abdrazacov</b> is playing Escamilo in two performances and <b>Ailyn Peréz</b> is playing Micaela in 2015, both of them are very exciting performers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rcE5iv_kv4/Uym6kK2XSHI/AAAAAAAABq4/mI-xSz62lik/s1600/elinaanita.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rcE5iv_kv4/Uym6kK2XSHI/AAAAAAAABq4/mI-xSz62lik/s1600/elinaanita.png" height="203" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Elina Garanca (left) and Anita Rachvelishvili (right) both as Carmen in Richard Eyre's production of Bizet's Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xThBfDHN9JI/Uym9h_XrscI/AAAAAAAABrY/MY5T6NNPLMo/s1600/jonasrobertoalek.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xThBfDHN9JI/Uym9h_XrscI/AAAAAAAABrY/MY5T6NNPLMo/s1600/jonasrobertoalek.png" height="152" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonas Kaufmann (left) and Roberto Alagna (center) both as Don José in Richard Eyre's production of Carmen at the Met and Aleksandrs Antonenko (right) doing Puccini's Il Trittico</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This opera will also be featured in the Live in HD program being transmitted on the 1</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> of November with Anita Rachvelishvili as Carmen, Aleksandrs Antonenko as Don José, Ildar Abdrazacov as Escamilo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Keep the magic coming on that flute!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yet another opera blockbuster, Wolfgang Amadeus <b>Mozart</b>’s enchanting <b>Die Zauberflöte</b> (The Magic Flute). This production reminds me of a children’s storybook, it’s very colorful and filled with crazy shaped costumes and exotic animals. But it does work great with this particular opera and thank the Lord they are doing the whole thing in the original language this time. Because if I’m not mistaken this was last season’s Holiday Presentation in which they cut a lot of stuff and translate it to English. I don’t have any problems with the translation if it helps reach out to a broader audience, especially when it’s comedy but taking stuff off is heresy to me and completely unnecessary.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Fqa9fRJgRs/Uym-yOMZXqI/AAAAAAAABrk/1_PSpi8c0Wk/s1600/FLUTE1-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Fqa9fRJgRs/Uym-yOMZXqI/AAAAAAAABrk/1_PSpi8c0Wk/s1600/FLUTE1-articleLarge.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In this opera we have our dashing tenor hero Prince Tamino (Toby Spence) who sets off to rescue the Princess Pamina (Pretty Yende) from the claws of the ‘evil’ Zarastro (René Pape) with the help of his comic relief side kick Papagueno (Markus Werba). But nothing is what it seems and is Pamina really being held against her will? Is Zaratro really the bad guy? Is Papagueno just desperate to get laid? Is this one of the most sexist operas ever and still we love it? Yeah, well, you can soon find out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There’s only one cast for this opera, we have <b>Toby Spence</b> as Prince Tamino and I’m pretty sure he’ll do a great job, he has the Prince look and a beautiful voice. <b>Pretty Yende,</b> who made her Met debut suddenly January of last year stepping in after the soprano playing the Countess in Le Comte Ory cancelled, plays Princess Pamina. I don’t know <b>Markus Werba</b>, who is playing Papagueno, at all but as I’ve said in the Macbeth bit <b>René Pape</b> is awesome and Zarastro is up his sleeve.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uc39_LRfDrw/Uym6cMYDxEI/AAAAAAAABqw/Kmobl3fh5v4/s1600/magic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uc39_LRfDrw/Uym6cMYDxEI/AAAAAAAABqw/Kmobl3fh5v4/s1600/magic.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toby Spence (top left) as Antonio in Ades' The Tempest, Pretty Yende (top right) as the Countess in Rossini's Le Comte Ory, Rene Pape (bottom left) as Zarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Markus Werba (bottom right) as Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbieri di Siviglia</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Death of Klinghoffer<span style="font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;<i>Met&nbsp;</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Premiere</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oddly enough this is the opera that got me most excited amongst this group of 6. I guess I just love to see new things. So compared to the other works this opera is very new although it was written 23 years ago by still living composer John <b>Adams</b>. Even though the work has a bit more than two decades it is still a controversial opera that in some people’s minds ‘should never be performed’. I myself have only seen Doctor Atomic by Adams and it is just absolutely fantastic and the music is mind blowing! This will be the first time <b>The Death of Klinghoffer</b> is performed at the Met which means we have another new production.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLWR0favI1A/UynAobtq87I/AAAAAAAABrw/wEj4VA3A_Z8/s1600/Death-of-Klinghoffer-Scot-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLWR0favI1A/UynAobtq87I/AAAAAAAABrw/wEj4VA3A_Z8/s1600/Death-of-Klinghoffer-Scot-007.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Like some of other works by Adams (the creation of the atomic bomb in Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China being about politics) this opera deals with a very delicate and recent subject: terrorism. It tells the true story of how a cruise ship was kidnapped in the Mediterranean by terrorists and all the passengers made hostages and the death of Klinghoffer who was killed during this high jacking. Something quite nice I’ve heard the composer say is that he doesn’t want to end the problems of the world with his works, but he wants to show the human side of both the victims and the villains.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Staring in the leading role is the amazing Brazilian baritone <b>Paulo Szot</b> and I couldn’t be happier to always write about his wonderful performances and his victories at the Met. He’s such a fantastic singer, brilliant performer and also a great person.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_wOdptr7lxk/UynA_ohbkfI/AAAAAAAABr4/pj6lTipbHtk/s1600/v3qa9x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_wOdptr7lxk/UynA_ohbkfI/AAAAAAAABr4/pj6lTipbHtk/s1600/v3qa9x.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paulo Szot the night he won his Tony Award back in 2008</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sorry I don’t know much about this opera but now I’m very curious to see how this will play out. And be happy because this opera is also in the Live in HD program, it will be streamed live on the 15th of November</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, I guess that’s it! I hope you guys liked the post and next one shall be about my 7<sup>th</sup> day in NYC so stay tuned! Cheers and peace everyone!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-88977033264957232162014-03-17T22:06:00.000-05:002014-03-31T11:11:28.090-05:0050 Random Facts About Me<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hello everyone! First and foremost I’d like to say THANK YOU so much for all the wonderful responses of my last post. I was really very moved by all your comments and messages, I do love this art form so much and it’s a joy for me to share my thoughts and crazy ideas with you all!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I’m working on an awesome series of posts right now that I will probably post next and don’t worry I will account for the other days in NYC that were pretty awesome as well and full of opera. But now I’d like to post something slightly more personal. This is actually a video tag that I saw in my favorite fashion YT channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Evelinicutza" target="_blank">Evelina</a>. Yes, I subscribe to a fashion channel and Evelina is real cool, she’s not like most of the fashion vlog girls who have irritating voices and sound kinda dumb. No, she’s very sweet and has the most amazing ideas and tips about sorts of things, plus she’s Russian and speaks 4 languages, the girl is smart. But anyways, this is a thing where I write down 50 random facts about myself and I thought I’d be fun for all of you to get to know me a little better, so here we go! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1-&nbsp;I’m addicted to Sudoku</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2-&nbsp;I hate going to the hairdresser, I do everything one does at the hairdresser myself and my second mum cuts my hair</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">3-&nbsp;I did ballet and tap dancing for a while growing up but was never real good at them</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4-&nbsp;I love pictures and hanging pictures of me and friends or of inspirational things all over my bedroom</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">5- I&nbsp;started my love for the performing arts watching Les Miserables live at the age of 10</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">6-&nbsp;I’m a very optimistic person</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7-&nbsp;I love designing and coming up with ideas for costumes&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and also choreographing dances&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">for the plays I’m doing &nbsp;(I’m usually responsible for those most of the time)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">8-&nbsp;I love to sing pop songs and musicals but the more I study classical singing the more ridiculous I sound singing them. (You should hear my “Let the storm rage on” from Let it Go, it’s pathetic)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">9-&nbsp;I’m a very rational person even though I get tears in my eyes from watching commercials</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">10-&nbsp;My favorite characters have a tendency of&nbsp; being the ‘evil’/dark ones like Snape (Harry Potter), the Evil Queen (Once Upon a Time), Nico (Heroes of Olympus) and even Amneris (Aida)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">11-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I have a very difficult time letting go of material things from the past (I still have my favorite Barbie dolls and stuffed animals)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">12-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I am a shameless bookworm, I love books and I love to read</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">13-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I hate scary movies and will never watch them because they really freak me out</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">14-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I love to cook and I always sing when I cook, it’s my secret ingredient</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">15-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m absolutely fascinated by languages and my goal is to learn how to speak as many as I can</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">16-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m a very domestic person, I love to hang out in my house and work from home and also to have friends over </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">17-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I don’t watch TV at all but I do watch many TV series, I download them and watch them in my laptop</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">18-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->If I had the means I could eat sushi everyday</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">19-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I love meeting new people and getting to exchange experiences, I find that we can always learn so much by simply listening to the most common place things</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">20-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My favorite type of story (be it book/movie/series) is fantasy/adventure closely followed by mystery and romance</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">21-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My favorite colors are red and green, it’s a complete and utter tie followed by black</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">22-&nbsp;I LOVE fairy tales</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">23-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m very concerned about my looks at all times, I always go out looking as good as the thing I have to do allows me to</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">24-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I have a thing for shelves, I love having an endless number of shelves displaying from all my books and CDS to perfumes and make up stuff</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">25-&nbsp;My sprit animal is a Panda!</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">26-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I love to bike, I get to almost everywhere with my bicycle</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">27-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My favorite drink is a Cosmopolitan</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">28-&nbsp;I’m addicted to coffee</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">29-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I speak two languages fluently, my mother tongue Portuguese and English, I do also speak Spanish and a bit of Italian and French which I’m teaching myself how to speak</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">30-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I prefer to read/write/speak in English</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">31-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m a proud Slytherin</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">32-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My guilty pleasure is Glee</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">33-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I used to hate opera when I was younger</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">34-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I suck at sports that involve a ball, with the exception of dodge ball because I can run from the ball</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">35-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->Two of the biggest inspirations for my personal style are Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) and the Evil Queen/Regina (OUAT)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">36-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I met one of my best friends in the front row of an opera singer recital</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">37-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My sister is the person I trust the most</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">38-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->My favorite kind of footwear is a Brazilian flip-flop called Havainas, I must have 10 of them in all different colors</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">39-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’ve had a crush on Alan Rickman since I was 13 years old</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">40-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->The women that inspired and continue to inspire me to be an artist were/are Emma Thompson, Joyce Didonato, Sondra Radvanovsky, Lana Parrilla and Sutton Foster</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">41-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I think newspapers are disgusting and smell horrible and I won’t go near them, I’m serious, if you wanna see me freak out wave newspapers in my direction</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">42-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’ve only had one boyfriend, we dated for two years and broke up well so today we are great friends</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">43-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I have never dyed or put any sort of chemical product to change my hair, it’s all black and all curly and 100% natural</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">44-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I study for about 5 hours a day everyday</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">45-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I hate the fact that I squint my eyes when I’m smiling for a picture so you can’t really see them well. That usually happens when I take a picture with a super awesome opera singer</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">46-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I don’t mind being alone, I actually kind of like it</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">47-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m running out of ideas so my 3 favorite composers are Mozart, Puccini and Massenet</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">48-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->Harry Potter changed my life, it made me fall in love with reading which triggered so many wonderful things in my life</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">49-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I love to read fanfiction</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">50-&nbsp;<!--[endif]-->I’m a very agitated kind of person, I always feel like I should be doing 2 things at the same time to optimize my time</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G-o2IRGe0XY/Uye330tx_WI/AAAAAAAABoc/r3vizDOOKEg/s1600/1898097_817834914900447_1233337619_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G-o2IRGe0XY/Uye330tx_WI/AAAAAAAABoc/r3vizDOOKEg/s1600/1898097_817834914900447_1233337619_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yes, that's me underwater!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">And that’s it! Now you actually know why I’m so insane! Leave a comment with a random fact about you you'd like to share! I’ll be making a new post soon! Cheers everyone!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-54532464862914664002014-03-14T20:15:00.000-05:002014-03-14T20:16:13.584-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 6 - Opening Night of Werther at the Met and Met Museum<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m going describe now one of the coolest days of my life!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It all started quite smoothly but I knew that by the end of the day I would be freaking out. So after me and mum grabbed some breakfast we went to the Met to pick up my tickets for Werther and I took this opportunity to snap a pic with my favorite tenor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlzTtG3lwSM/UyN_i9tnq3I/AAAAAAAABnU/59S3dPp76v8/s1600/1911818_10152054200327713_1927940659_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlzTtG3lwSM/UyN_i9tnq3I/AAAAAAAABnU/59S3dPp76v8/s1600/1911818_10152054200327713_1927940659_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This day we went to one of my favorite places in NYC, the other Met, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.&nbsp; I make sure that every time I come to the city I go to this museum and I was particularly pumped about going because I was (am actually) reading the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. I know what you might think, these books about the Kanes and Percy Jackson are for children/teenagers but, even if they are, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass! I absolutely LOVE the way this guy writes, I read all the Percy Jackson books and the Heroes of Olympus in lighting speed. Plus I love everything about mythology, any kind, but specially Greek and then my second favorite is Egyptian, so there you go. Some of you might be confused, the books I’m reading tell the story of two siblings who find out they are descendant from not only one but two pharaoh blood lines. Being a descendant they can do Egyptian magic but being a double descendant makes them very powerful and also apt to host spirits of Gods like Isis and Horus. Pretty cool I must confess. Most importantly they live in our present so, yes, they do have a battle at the Temple of Dendur at the Met Museum.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As I was saying I was pretty pumped to go to the Met Museum and of course started out at the Egyptian part. I probably have already said this but they make you make a very though decision just as you arrive in that museum. Would you like to start in the Greek/Roman part of the Egyptian one? Well, we hanged around Egypt for a while as I ate up everything I could and took pictures of the mummies and patiently waited for something to move (sad to report nothing did move though…). </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CF8iwVdyY7I/UyN_1n2ow8I/AAAAAAAABnc/XW6OOpj0atg/s1600/1920377_10152071658007713_1961877059_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CF8iwVdyY7I/UyN_1n2ow8I/AAAAAAAABnc/XW6OOpj0atg/s1600/1920377_10152071658007713_1961877059_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We had a museum quality lunch in which we ate over priced salads and then moved upstairs where they had the cool musical instruments and the paintings. This second floor is just bliss, especially the French Paintings bit, such exquisitely beautiful works of art. I’m what you would call very traditional when it comes to paintings, so I mostly like very realistic paintings as opposed to dots and shapeless things. But one of my favorite painters is George Serraut that introduced such revolutionary ways of painting back in his day (information I have acquired thanks to a musical called Sunday in the Park with George).</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We left the Museum around 5:30, more like they kicked us out because they were closing. We went back to the hotel and for the first time in forever I actually had time to dress up for the opera. Because I was wearing my day clothes back in Rusalka and it just wasn’t classy. I decided to wear shoes and 2 thick stockings because it was opening night and I had been wearing boots all day, worst decision ever. I wore a very pretty black dress but I should have brought the boots in a bag or something. The moment I was out in the street on my way to the Met I regretted the shoes. They got wetish and so very very cold, when I finally made it to the Met I was almost crying out of sheer joy of being warm but then I remembered what I was there for and became even happier.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I met Melanie and we chatted for a little while before the opera began. We spotted Danielle DeNiese and Placido Domingo in the rich person’s dinner thing. So exciting! I had never seen Placido before in the flesh and he’s like the coolest person in opera today apart from being the very first opera singer I ever heard actually sing. My dad had his CD when I was little and I just loved it!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Werther time! I was beyond excited, this would be the first time of me seeing Jonas Kaufmann and I just adore him! Plus the first time I saw Lisette Oropesa who is so incredible and it was opening night of one of the most anticipated operas of the season, so yeah, pretty fucking awesome. I was sitting in the Family Circle premium so I got amazing sound and OK view, couldn’t see facial expressions, which was really a bum, but what can you do?</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ikC8arFkZhc/UyOAMEzR-GI/AAAAAAAABnk/cAwUz94SUx4/s1600/1962659_10152056449847713_2144883628_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ikC8arFkZhc/UyOAMEzR-GI/AAAAAAAABnk/cAwUz94SUx4/s1600/1962659_10152056449847713_2144883628_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patrick was super pumped about this</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The overture starts and we see a family (Charlotte’s) at Christmas when suddenly the tallest woman faints and one of the small children exclaims “Mama!”. This I thought was so incredible. During the overture we could see when the mother died, after she was taken away they came back all in black carrying a coffin. There was a statue of a woman weeping covering her face in the garden that represented the mother in whose feet all her children laid flowers. This is quite interesting and useful because in a superficial level you kind of understand why the father is rehearsing Christmas Carols in July. And in a deeper level you can see the mother, she’s not a ghost, the promise Charlotte makes to her becomes more tangible and alive.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pFlCzPgQ_Nc/UyN-b3xijwI/AAAAAAAABlw/mFs8PUx3Pf4/s1600/Werther-Ravens-Stills-0.03.02.00-1024x626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pFlCzPgQ_Nc/UyN-b3xijwI/AAAAAAAABlw/mFs8PUx3Pf4/s1600/Werther-Ravens-Stills-0.03.02.00-1024x626.jpg" height="243" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The scenery was so lovely! It was simple yet relevant. I love stagings like this that act as a vessel for the performer as opposed to upstaging them. The floor was made out of crooked floor boards that give the whole first scene a nice “twist”. We are brought to a sunny July afternoon when the widowed Baliff is trying to rehearse Christmas carols with his young children but all the youngsters want to do is play. I have to give a standing ovation to those kids, they were simply perfect. Of course this is the Met and perfection is the ultimate goal but not only did they sing the part with most clear diction, dynamic and beautiful color but they also acted so well. I do like to observe everyone on stage when I watch something like this, because during the not so interesting conversation Baliff is having with his two friends the kids are on fire.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ltb-MAs9FYs/UyN-gEJXl5I/AAAAAAAABmM/gRM5L1Ro_Po/s1600/werther+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ltb-MAs9FYs/UyN-gEJXl5I/AAAAAAAABmM/gRM5L1Ro_Po/s1600/werther+%25282%2529.jpg" height="257" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Seriously, when Jonas first appeared some people actually clapped. I thought they only did stuff like that for Placido Domingo or someone as equally monumental. Not that Jonas isn’t great but I didn’t think that the clapping was so necessary. I probably have said this before but Werther is one of those operas that I know most of by heart so as Jonas melted my heart with his amazing rendition of <i>“Oh Nature”</i> I didn’t know if I was gap faced or if I mouthed the words. Now some people like to say that he darkens his voice and that he must sound small live. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, his voice is scarily dark but from what I could capture it was all natural and it was monstrous! It was BIG! I didn’t think it was that big, so I was really in the clouds when he finished the aria, unfortunately the people didn’t clap. Go figure.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As soon as Werther sees Charlotte is like he’s been shot by the cupid. They are both kind of shy and adorable around each other at first which is so endearing! I must confess I hadn’t seen Sophie Koch in many things but I was blown away by how amazing she sounds live! Lush, velvety, big and full of emotion she was a perfect Charlotte from start to finish.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To add to the mix Lisette Oropesa’s voice sounded just as big and lovely as the two protagonists. I found that in this production, apart of all the wonderful things I will describe later, they had an amazing balance of voices that sounded absolutely gorgeous together. Everyone had quite full voices which melted into each other's and that helped tremendously in emerging oneself into the piece.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wptnZOJZ4J4/UyN-aL4iU1I/AAAAAAAABlk/trsDFs8Jnxc/s1600/ibJMk7pXKahE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wptnZOJZ4J4/UyN-aL4iU1I/AAAAAAAABlk/trsDFs8Jnxc/s1600/ibJMk7pXKahE.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Lisette Oropesa and David Bizic</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Charlotte serves a very real chocolate cake to her siblings and her and Werther are off to the ball. The ball part must have been one of my favorite parts. I know what you are thinking, what ball part? What happened was, during the big introduction of the garden scene after the party they actually made a silent party scene and it was SO romantic! The floor boards uncrooked themselves and projections helped build the idea of an indoors location. There were some couples that started dancing together and so did Werther and Charlotte and seriously, it was so freaking damn romantic! The music helped immensely setting the romantic mood but Jonas and Sophie were absolutely in the same page and had incredible chemistry.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VDyUvtKTgNo/UyN-u7sPtlI/AAAAAAAABmk/cYi7WcAfxLg/s1600/boswertherdancing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VDyUvtKTgNo/UyN-u7sPtlI/AAAAAAAABmk/cYi7WcAfxLg/s1600/boswertherdancing.jpg" height="245" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We go to the garden scene that is one of my favorite scenes and it was just bliss from start to finish. The orchestra sounded exquisite and the couple on stage seriously stole my heart. It’s so great to watch people who have already done the work together before because the more they do it the more intimate they become and let me tell you, that duet was downright romantic and melancholic and all things Massenet! Charlotte’s father calls her out just in time to ruin the almost kiss they would be sharing, I hate that part. End of act one.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nBXq_FzJ3SI/UyN-cOf2UBI/AAAAAAAABl0/jX5z2LmS1xA/s1600/iconsquareWerthersm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nBXq_FzJ3SI/UyN-cOf2UBI/AAAAAAAABl0/jX5z2LmS1xA/s1600/iconsquareWerthersm.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T7jRHEfawis/UyN-wvIQ4DI/AAAAAAAABms/bGTm5Lyy7-w/s1600/Werther_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T7jRHEfawis/UyN-wvIQ4DI/AAAAAAAABms/bGTm5Lyy7-w/s1600/Werther_2.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We only had a 2 minute pause until act 2 began. Curtain goes up on act two and we still have the same mold of the set but some props have been put up to make us believe we are in a different location. I thought one thing that was absolutely fascinating was during that duet from those two ‘comic relief’ guys there were some ladies setting up a table. And I seriously could not tear my eyes from them, they did such a meticulous job, the table looked absolutely gorgeous by the end. But on to the story, it’s Sunday and it’s apparently the Vicar’s wedding anniversary so he’s having a lunch with his friends.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Everyone is pretty much sunshine and happiness and here comes Werther as gloomy as can be because his beloved married someone else because of a stupid promise (Yeah, the scenes at the beginning did not change my mind as to how stupid I thought that promise was). Charlotte looks very miserable as well with her marriage.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vr5PSsxyEHI/UyN-XqAvY3I/AAAAAAAABlU/DvKCH-bFTqg/s1600/WertherActOne1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vr5PSsxyEHI/UyN-XqAvY3I/AAAAAAAABlU/DvKCH-bFTqg/s1600/WertherActOne1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m not a really big fan of the second act, I don’t really like it that Albert (that’s Charlotte’s husband) approaches Werther and sings an aria about how he kinda knows the guy is into his wife. Although the Serbian baritone David Bizic (sorry, I am not able to write his name right) was absolutely fantastic, just like the rest of the principal cast his voice soared through the Met with much ease and beauty. Even though I’m not a fan of this act my favorite part has to be Sophie’s aria and Lisette did such a marvelous job. She was so happy and bubbly and what a VOICE! At the end of the aria she just turned around and walked away sustaining a gorgeous diminuendo A, I felt the itching urge of clapping and screaming.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well Werther and Charlotte have another aching duet sequence in which he tells her he loves her and wants to run away and be with her. And she’s like <i>“I’m married, I can’t, that ship has sailed Werther”.</i> They keep that for a while and then Charlotte tells Werther to leave and to only come back on Christmas day and that’s the best for them both. Werther is of course distraught and Sophie comes on to him like<i> “Come on dance with me Mousier Werther”</i> and he’s like <i>“My live is over, I’m leaving forever”</i> and Sophie is rather upset about that. Maybe she has a crush on him, WHO WOULDN’T? You’d have to be crazy to send away a guy like Jonas K, right Charlotte? Ok, I’m getting too emotional. Ends act 2 intermission time!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dj0hkwRoOJ8/UyN-tUjmPeI/AAAAAAAABmc/uZOCTtUGmIs/s1600/Werther_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dj0hkwRoOJ8/UyN-tUjmPeI/AAAAAAAABmc/uZOCTtUGmIs/s1600/Werther_3.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I spent my intermission with my great opera friends Melanie and Mike. We all could barely describe what we just saw, we were all so impressed by the whole thing. I love spending my intermissions like this, chatting with friends about the real deal of opera. What normally happens in Brazil during my intermissions is that I spend them alone tweeting about what just happened. But being with these people makes me so incredibly happy. The gong went off and on we go for acts 3 and 4.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R08qUPgjKOE/UyN-64kzyTI/AAAAAAAABnE/cSTNxQ2_dz0/s1600/1888585_815569675126935_1285758523_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R08qUPgjKOE/UyN-64kzyTI/AAAAAAAABnE/cSTNxQ2_dz0/s1600/1888585_815569675126935_1285758523_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three very happy opera heads</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Curtain up and we see Charlotte’s living room with the traditional piano, books, and gun box. As I’ve said before, the production is very pretty but it really does not stand out. Then Sophie Koch totally rips our hearts out with the troubles of Charlotte. Because Werther left but they still correspond, he sends her letters all the time, love filled letters that would melt any heart! In his last letter he tells her that if he doesn’t come back for Christmas that she pray for his soul. Meaning he was gonna kill himself. So she’s pretty desperate.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Enters Sophie all cotton candy and happiness. She notices her sister is distressed and then Koch sings one of my favorite arias <i>“Va! Laisse couler mes larmes”</i>. It was so gorgeous and the ease with which Koch travels through her registers is really amazing. That ease allows her to give herself completely to the performance and really bare her soul in one of the most heartfelt musical moments of the entire piece. My teacher used to say that this aria is two pages complete and utter FEELING. I wish I could sing it, but elas, I can’t haha</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMTKU5Ueh-M/UyN-aBdQyuI/AAAAAAAABlg/erzNqxO-p9A/s1600/610394115001_3204016650001_vs-52fe98d6e4b0b5583ed1f7bd-767904719001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMTKU5Ueh-M/UyN-aBdQyuI/AAAAAAAABlg/erzNqxO-p9A/s1600/610394115001_3204016650001_vs-52fe98d6e4b0b5583ed1f7bd-767904719001.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vo7NToN5dNw/UyN-WDOX6tI/AAAAAAAABlM/4_BMMl3m9MI/s1600/1920605_10153859481520533_1657296512_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vo7NToN5dNw/UyN-WDOX6tI/AAAAAAAABlM/4_BMMl3m9MI/s1600/1920605_10153859481520533_1657296512_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that Sophie leaves and just as Charlotte is getting to the edge of desperation that Werther theme plays and double doors open. He’s looking worst than ever and having homicidal thoughts. Sometimes Charlotte’s lack of compassion towards him irritates me and I really would like to see a production in which she is warmer to him. I know it’s impossible to change what’s being said but what they actually do is entirely up to the stage director, she could be saying <i>“NO”</i> in a less cold way. I know this is a German tale, but still, I’m Brazilian, we want heat and physical contact for Christ sakes, isn’t this a love story or something? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, they talk and as Werther starts getting into that suicidal vibe again Charlotte asks him to read her a poem he’d been translating and here we go. “<i>Pourquoi me réveiller” </i>was out of this world. No wonder there’s a video on YouTube of Jonas singing this entitled “The best tenor of the world”. It is just so unbelievable how his voice is so absolutely different from what you would expect from a tenor singing this kind of repertoire and still, he sounds like something out of the heavens. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fG_yZQtiFB4/UyN-0qYC71I/AAAAAAAABm4/ocDdoYggKec/s1600/i-SzLX3pH-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fG_yZQtiFB4/UyN-0qYC71I/AAAAAAAABm4/ocDdoYggKec/s1600/i-SzLX3pH-L.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Something quite funny happened to me during this aria actually. Because it was such a heartfelt moment and I started leaning forward and suddenly I feel a hand grip my from behind and it proceed to put me back on my normal sitting position. I have to say I was kind of mortified when that happened and felt really bad that I was blocking the guy’s view. But after the opera the first thing I did was turn around and apologize expecting the guy to be a total jerk but he was actually really cool about it and said that happened all the time.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyways, this aria got a very generous ovation. Then there’s that flame that starts building up as Werther sees that Charlotte does indeed have feelings for him and, for lack of better word, kinda attacks her. I thought it was pretty hot, them both in the divan kissing, then dropping to the floor while passionately gabbing each other. If I was the lady playing Charlotte I would give a big shout out to that stage director “THANK YOU MAN!”, I mean, it’s Jonas Kaufmann!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But of course she has that whole guilt and vow bull and runs away locking a door on her way out and one of the most heart breaking things in the opera is Werther reaching out for the locked door and begging her to open it then slowly sliding his back on the door crying. BANG, my heart was torn to pieces! He leaves and Albert comes back home to find it messed up, he calls Charlotte. They receive a message from Werther asking for Albert to lend his guns for he is going on a long journey. Albert sends them off to him and Charlotte finally realizes that the plan is actually suicide. She rushes through the snowy streets to Werther’s house. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cwOFtVNIFUg/UyN-dcWDQjI/AAAAAAAABl8/e6a70bVpxfE/s1600/ivQXq.fS92Cs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cwOFtVNIFUg/UyN-dcWDQjI/AAAAAAAABl8/e6a70bVpxfE/s1600/ivQXq.fS92Cs.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What was pretty cool about this production was that there was no pause whatsoever between acts 3 and 4. The scenery is taken away as Charlotte puts on her boots and then you see a large square far in the back of the stage. At first I thought it was a projection but it was actually Werther’s room with Werther on the inside. As it approaches you can see the scene of Werther getting the guns unfold. He takes one of the guns and points to his head and for a moment there you go like <i>“Holy moly he’s gonna do it!”</i> but he lowers the gun looking quite desperate. The music starts building up and then out of the blue BAM, he shoots himself in the stomach area. And let me tell you live in HD people, it’s sudden and really loud and everyone is gonna get startled when it happens. Specially because a perfectly synchronized projection of his blood spilling on the wall happens and you are like <i>“Holy shit that was brutal”</i>. I’m so not complaining about it though, I thought it was brilliant but it is not subtle.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rDyOfyBnNv4/UyN-0kyShZI/AAAAAAAABm8/tNkf_0FaMY0/s1600/Werther_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rDyOfyBnNv4/UyN-0kyShZI/AAAAAAAABm8/tNkf_0FaMY0/s1600/Werther_1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Charlotte arrives moments later to find him nearly dead on the floor and I couldn’t believe I wasn’t crying yet (it’s mostly because the guy behind me doing that thing kind of unsettled me a bit). Now Charlotte is beyond desperate but Werther is already in another dimension, he knows he’s gonna die so all he wants is to cherish his last moments with the woman he loves. OH MY GWAD THE FEELS! He puts him on the bed and tucks him in and of course gives him all he ever wanted, a kiss which is so romantic! For a moment they are there in each other’s arms, he stands and she comes to stand behind him as they embrace and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">oublion tout.</i></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8EbUdUecgRk/UyN-eq4OW_I/AAAAAAAABmE/TRcmby4u7mY/s1600/werther-1-master675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8EbUdUecgRk/UyN-eq4OW_I/AAAAAAAABmE/TRcmby4u7mY/s1600/werther-1-master675.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is when I started crying, they are there forgetting about everything when suddenly there’s an orchestral bang and you can hear the children go <i>“Noel, Noel, Noel”</i> and Lisette starts singing the most gorgeous melody and Werther comes back to his senses feeling his wound and falls on the floor. This isn’t even heart breaking, this is heart dilacerating! Jonas gave one hell of a performance, absolutely genius performance. I was expecting something quite exceptional coming from him but he exceeded my expectations by a long shot! At the end I was helplessly crying like a retard and many people around me where also weeping. That’s why people go to the opera, right? To cry their eyes out!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Curtain call was insane, the audience was crazy! I think even the singers were a little bit taken by surprise due to such a loud ovation. Jonas only had to give one tiny step down stage that I felt like that Metropolitan Opera would fall from the screaming and applause. It was SO FUCKING AWESOME to be a part of that! These curtain call pic were taken by my friend Felipe Cunha, thanks man!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yfzPy5wOL_4/UyOnf2QRLTI/AAAAAAAABn4/4ItnC6AK8Cg/s1600/1975255_10203057772744659_1798596060_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yfzPy5wOL_4/UyOnf2QRLTI/AAAAAAAABn4/4ItnC6AK8Cg/s1600/1975255_10203057772744659_1798596060_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the principal cast plus maestro</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ae-1YHpbkUY/UyOnhEP0MWI/AAAAAAAABoA/NcupB_JUaJQ/s1600/1654276_10203057771464627_416355091_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ae-1YHpbkUY/UyOnhEP0MWI/AAAAAAAABoA/NcupB_JUaJQ/s1600/1654276_10203057771464627_416355091_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4mSk9latz4Q/UyOnjl1P8uI/AAAAAAAABoQ/aqCp5tnk70A/s1600/1798490_10203057765064467_1913697143_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4mSk9latz4Q/UyOnjl1P8uI/AAAAAAAABoQ/aqCp5tnk70A/s1600/1798490_10203057765064467_1913697143_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RkNG93c-fTo/UyOniXLalpI/AAAAAAAABoE/7YhJYxgw-6M/s1600/1234873_10203057768104543_367400174_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RkNG93c-fTo/UyOniXLalpI/AAAAAAAABoE/7YhJYxgw-6M/s1600/1234873_10203057768104543_367400174_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonas getting flowers, close up on Lisette's face, da best!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well from having tweeted Lisette I found out they would be going to a cast party after the opera and would be leaving quite late. But I had attached to me a very big Jonas fan whose only opportunity to actually talk to him was today so we were not leaving. What we did was, we went to that Starbucks just across from Lincoln Center and grabbed some coffee and there we stayed until they closed up (around midnight) and kicked us out. Then we went to the stage door that was not deserted (I was expecting it to be deserted). There were two guys there and OF COURSE the crazy white haired bag old lady named Linda. She was chatting (the way we all know so well how she ‘chats’) with the two guys who seemed so nice but we didn’t want to talk to them afraid that the crazy lady would talk to us. One thing you do NOT want to be associated with at stage doors are people like her, you just don’t. She went away for some mysterious reason and we took this opportunity to approach the boys and them about these ‘stage door beggars’. The guys were beyond nice, they were both from Russia, one was a singer and the other was a pianist and they were both still students just like me and Mike. We hit it off SO well. They told us that Placido Domingo had come out the stage door just a while before we arrived and they got to chat with him! Of course I was very jealous but I was about to meet Jonas Kaufmann so I wasn’t THAT upset!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At about 1:15 in the morning Jonas came out with some other people that turned out to be his agent and publicist. I don’t know why, but I never am the first person to go up and talk to the singer, I always let my friends chat to the person first. I don’t really know why but in doing so I end up talking to the people that are accompanying the singer and this time I had the absolute pleasure of talking to his agent. The guy is so cool, he’s from NYC and he speaks many languages and when he learned I was from Brazil he immediately started to talk in Portuguese like a native. Now Portuguese is a very difficult language as Renée Fleming herself has already pointed out, the most difficult language for her, and she sings in Czech and Russian and Elvish for Christ sakes! Plus, he was really nice.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But on to Jonas, I have to admit I was very star stuck when I met him, I think I’ve never been so star struck in my whole life. He’s very tall and very handsome and when he smiles I feel like fainting, he’s a presence, and no, I’m not overreacting! He was SO cool, he talked to all of us and even told me that he was dying to do something here in Brazil. He’s a very simple guy and was extremely humbled by all the things we told him. When I told him he was my favorite male singer of all times he looked me straight in the eye and said <i>“Really? Oh my, thank you so much, it’s such an honor”</i>. I mean, how can you not adore a man like that? He signed all my cds and took this lovely, lovely picture with me which I will cherish forever.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdjQPxB3BhE/UyN-_OIdjTI/AAAAAAAABnM/HzqUZFQ5jUM/s1600/DSC01796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdjQPxB3BhE/UyN-_OIdjTI/AAAAAAAABnM/HzqUZFQ5jUM/s1600/DSC01796.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Right after he left Lisette came out and I just turned to her and said <i>“I know you told me not to wait in the cold, sorry!”</i>. And she was soooooo cool. It just like the whole Joyce thing all over again, she looked at me with a big smile and said “Isabela?” and we hugged and it was awesome! We talked a great deal more with her and her husband who was also really cool. And I totally love it how we can just talk about the production and the music and everything with the performers and it’s totally normal, they are extremely humble and so opened to what you have to say. I love it when I feel I got to have an exchange with the singer and tell her how I really felt when I heard her sing and that was definitely what I felt about meeting Lisette. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ToxiiLiNdk/UyN-jszsSTI/AAAAAAAABmU/dmBvvG37kos/s1600/1970368_10152055914247713_1406846353_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ToxiiLiNdk/UyN-jszsSTI/AAAAAAAABmU/dmBvvG37kos/s1600/1970368_10152055914247713_1406846353_n.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I was happy as can be after that. Sophie Koch came out but since I don’t really know her work I didn’t think it would be very sincere to go up to her and start up a conversation and ask for a picture. I did congratulate her and tell her she had done so wonderfully that night but Mike did most of the talking and I acted as more of a photographer.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we decided to grab something to eat, so off we went to some diner place, me, Mike and our new found Russian friends. We stayed in that diner eating not so good junk food and talking about opera until 3:30 in the morning! It was a lot of fun and you people know me, I love making new friends, especially if they are opera fans and even more if they are fellow musicians. So we really had a blast that night. &nbsp;</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I took about a week to write all this, I hope you guys liked it and I promise I won’t take that long ever again to post. Peace to you all!</span></div></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-31416948410995666672014-03-07T14:42:00.002-05:002014-03-07T14:42:50.306-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 5 - Shopping and Avenue Q<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey world! This is probably gonna be a short post because I didn’t go to any operas on the 5<sup>th</sup> day in NYC. But before I write about that let me just say that I got to watch the Oscar’s the other day. I loved the ceremony and Ellen was such an amazing host. I must admit that I saw very few of the movies that were nominated, like Frozen, The Hobbit, The Wolf of Wallstreet (I made the mistake of going to this one with my mom, TRAUMA) and August: Osage County. But this ceremony did make me want to watch a lot of the other nominated films like: 12 Years a Slave; American Rustle; Dallas Buyers Club; The Great Gatsby; Her; Philomena; Blue Jasmine. And even though Gravity was the big winner of the night I don’t really want to see it, stuff in space kinda freaks me out, the whole lack of oxygen makes me nervous. Plus I don’t really like the director Alfonso Cuaron or whatever is his name, still haven’t forgiven him for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But enough about movies, let’s get to the real fun, NYC day 5!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So on this day I could breathe a little bit because I didn’t have anything scheduled with anybody so me and mum could take on the city! We went out and it was a nice sunny day, very cold, still had to wear about 3 stockings but it was a beautiful day. We decided to walk to 5th Ave through Central Park which was a lot of fun because we got to see the park in a completely different light. It was completely covered with snow but for the foot paths. We could see children sliding down snow banks and I couldn’t help but think of my closest Brazilian friends who would totally do that with me were they there. We took some pictures and I was able to capture the cutest squirrel in the snow moment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xd-Ku09VLs/UxofWjTyrqI/AAAAAAAABkI/aT7kygzECHg/s1600/DSC01656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xd-Ku09VLs/UxofWjTyrqI/AAAAAAAABkI/aT7kygzECHg/s1600/DSC01656.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TanJ0x0aXqk/UxofYMidsTI/AAAAAAAABkQ/-h84Se048pE/s1600/DSC01655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TanJ0x0aXqk/UxofYMidsTI/AAAAAAAABkQ/-h84Se048pE/s1600/DSC01655.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h2aGYBpV73k/UxofN4fQbnI/AAAAAAAABkA/j9ISn7tCN6w/s1600/DSC01666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h2aGYBpV73k/UxofN4fQbnI/AAAAAAAABkA/j9ISn7tCN6w/s1600/DSC01666.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Getting to 5</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Ave we did what we do best, SHOP. Not much to tell apart from that, our morning was basically spent browsing through clothes and pretty stuff. You guys have no idea how ridiculously cheap stuff at the US is compared to Brazil! Don’t judge me because I shop, I do it because I’m basically addicted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then we walked to Times Square and had lunch at Bubba Gump. Holy crap. Their food is just unbelievably delicious. They have this sauce made of butter, lemon and garlic, amongst other things, that is absolutely INSANE! And it’s funny because when the dishes arrived we thought they were too small but by the end of the yummy dish I was sure I would be having a very late dinner if I ate at all after that. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we ventured into the big Forever 21 at Times Square and after some digging found quite a lot of really cheap stuff. I seriously got a winter jacket and a winter trench coat for $15 each. I just love that store. I recently learned that they have new stuff every day, no wonder you can go to as many of those stores as possible and still find loads and loads of different stuff in all of them. They are opening a store in São Paulo next week but I doubt it’s gonna be as accessible (price wise and location wise) as it is in the US. Specially because it’s gonna be located in one of the most high society and expensive malls in São Paulo. Yeap, it’s still cheaper to get myself a flight ticket to the US and shop there massively then to shop in my own town. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Et4_nHsnMno/UxofewmYtHI/AAAAAAAABko/C-i-sJVmB8c/s1600/1958029_10152052254057713_1563498843_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Et4_nHsnMno/UxofewmYtHI/AAAAAAAABko/C-i-sJVmB8c/s1600/1958029_10152052254057713_1563498843_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ma moma looooves me haha</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While I shopped I also made plans with Mike to go to the singing waiters place called Stardust for dinner. The problem was, my mum was terrified of catching a taxi by herself and I’m gonna tell you why. On Saturday she hailed for a cab all by herself and got in one and asked the driver to take her to our hotel. But the driver didn’t turn on that price thing in the cab and started asking her if she was alone, where was she from and such. My mum is a suspicious person by nature, after all she lives in a country that if you turn your back on the wrong person they will rob/kidnap/shoot you. She got safely to the hotel that day but really thought that the cab driver wanted to kidnap her. Bottom line, I had to take the cab with her from Times Square to our hotel then take another back to Times Square to meet Mike. I was late and I hate being late.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Good thing was he was the first in a very long line to get into the restaurant. We got in and it all seemed really fun with the waiters dancing and singing. The problem was, we didn’t know any of those songs they were singing. They did not sing Broadway but pop songs that I seriously did not know. So the singing that was supposed to be entertaining became quite annoying because we wanted to chat and no wonder they were not on Broadway (that sounded really bitchy but I have a very high standards when it comes to singing). We ordered food that was clearly overpriced due to the performance part of dinner and left as soon as we finished eating. Mike wasn’t also a fan of that establishment, we took a picture that sums up our feelings about it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzUzxGtud2s/Uxofdut6ktI/AAAAAAAABkg/lFbIuvCIgJI/s1600/1891087_10152053274227713_1609106906_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzUzxGtud2s/Uxofdut6ktI/AAAAAAAABkg/lFbIuvCIgJI/s1600/1891087_10152053274227713_1609106906_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then Mike left and I was on my way to the hotel when I passed by the New World Stages. First of all I think this place is absolutely awesome. It’s an off broadway theater place that holds not only one but 5 different stages meaning they have 5 shows on at the same time. It reminded me a lot of a movie theater but with stages instead of a screen, absolutely incredible!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So as I was saying I passed by this amazing place and noticed that Avenue Q would start in 10 minutes, an impulse went through me and I went in. I went to the ticket booth and asked for the prices on Avenue Q and the lady told me they were $90 for orchestra and $70 for balcony. I did not have that money and so I was about to walk away when the lady told me she could give me a discount and I paid $50 for an orchestra seat, a great orchestra seat by the way. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FvNeWU_QRo/UxofcWNoWmI/AAAAAAAABkY/ZXV_oagPI-0/s1600/1920403_10152053196147713_384815954_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FvNeWU_QRo/UxofcWNoWmI/AAAAAAAABkY/ZXV_oagPI-0/s1600/1920403_10152053196147713_384815954_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As soon as I sat down on my seat I started a friendly conversation with two sisters who came to see the show, one of them was bringing her sibling for the first time to Avenue Q.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, the musical is so much fun. But there was one small problem. I practically knew the entire thing by heart! So it wasn’t really funny unless the performer would do something different with it. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely time, but between that and the fact that the singers weren’t again all that good, especially Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut I kinda regretted not going to Prince Igor at the Met. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m not saying, don’t go to this show, it’s a great show by itself even if the performers aren’t ideal you will still laugh A LOT. It’s a puppet/human show for adults so it talks about sex, racism, porn, growing up, finding your purpose, bullying, one night stands, being broke, being rich then being broke, coming out, friendship and love. It’s so adorable! </span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After the show was over I walked a good 15 blocks to my hotel and again collapsed on the bed. That’s all folks, next post is gonna be pretty big, opening night of Werther was pretty incredible and will be hard to describe in few words, which, I won’t haha Cheers!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-52551222224661997052014-03-05T14:51:00.006-05:002014-03-05T14:51:59.504-05:00Here and back Again in NYC - Day 4 - Met Backstage and A. Museum of Natural H.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey guys! So I just got back from another trip. Me and my friends rented a beach house in the Riviera for our Carnaval holiday. We had a LOT of fun and I've&nbsp;acquired a nice tan.&nbsp;Carnaval is the biggest Brazilian holiday,&nbsp;it lasts from Saturday to Wednesday, it’s fun to have that time off where you can be with your friends but wonder why my country is so underdeveloped with this kind of holiday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But I’m not here to rant, I’m here to talk about fourth day in NYC, so here we go!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I actually hardly had any sleep because I arrived in my Hotel at about 2:30 (that night was so freaking cold, the wind was murderous!) took quite a while to get my excitement down and then woke up around 8. I got breakfast with my mum and headed off to the Met (yeah, I’m always there, all my pictures are there) for the backstage tour that was scheduled for 10:30. The problem is, my friend, Mr Mike, overslept and was now running against the clock to get there. When he did get there the doors were locked and he couldn’t get in and nobody had the key. The tour guide told me to tell him to go to the stage door and thank God we are the sort of maniac fans that actually go to the stage door so he knew where it was, so off he went.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOQsMXGT1k4/Uxd4tP2qqUI/AAAAAAAABio/wwWJvBlyl14/s1600/IMG_20140216_101841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOQsMXGT1k4/Uxd4tP2qqUI/AAAAAAAABio/wwWJvBlyl14/s1600/IMG_20140216_101841.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Even though there had been a lot of snow the day before, LC was clean on Sunday</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">I don’t know what happens but this also happened the last time I took the tour, the most annoying person from the group ALWAYS sticks to me and annoys everyone and talks to me no stop. Maybe I’m too nice, I don’t know. The worst part was that she was Brazilian. After I picked up my fabulous SCOTTISH friend from the stage door she would talk to me in Portuguese in his presence which I found most impolite because she did speak English after all. I would always answer her with grunts and nods or in English, I know what it feels like to have people speak in a language you can’t understand right in front of you, not very nice, not by a long shot.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But I found it was so cool to take this backstage tour again because they don’t work on Sunday so the opera house was empty except for us which gave us a lot more liberty than last time. So we started the tour backwards, so we started with the dressing rooms and this time we were actually able to go INSIDE the dressing rooms. We went inside the first soprano diva extraordinaire dressing room and just to think that merely 12 hours from then Renée had her pretty bottom sitting on that chair that I was leaning on. Gosh I’m such a psico! The tour guide explained all those things we already knew but one took me by surprise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, there are 10 principals’ dressing rooms in a corridor that has its entrance right in the middle. So you have 5 for women and 5 for men. The center dressing rooms are not specifically for the leading singers but for the soprano and tenor. So, for instance for an opera like Werther, we saw the dressing room arrangements and the super soprano dressing room was destined to Lisette Oropesa who plays Sophie instead of being for the mezzo who plays the leading role of Charlotte, Sophie Koch. Sophie was actually way down the hall. But the tour guide said that when they do Carmen the mezzo playing Carmen gets the super star dressing room. They are all alike, the dressing rooms, the only difference really is their location.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Moving on we went by the place where they build the sets which is so amazing. The Met has a huge auditorium but has an even bigger backstage area. You see the new Met was built in the 1960’s so they used up all the space and innovative technology they had. You remember that movie West Side Story? It was filmed right where now the Lincoln Center is. And life there was more or less like West Side Story, gang fights all the time, a great deal of violence, robberies and such, it was a very dangerous place to be. There used to be what people used to call an “urban slum”, they relocated the people, took it down and build Lincoln Center. You might think that’s an awful thing to do, to take people out of their homes to take them down to build a playground for the rich people of NYC. But everyone seemed to benefit from what happened. The people got relocated to various parts of the New York state which diminished if not ended with the fights, and since the neighborhoods people went to were much safer they had better quality of life. As for the Upper West Side of New York, the construction of Lincoln Center brought in new people and helped renovate that part of town into a sophisticated area just like the Upper East Side. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Why, hello, this just turned into a history lesson!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RrB1qjo_HRo/Uxd-TdLZqzI/AAAAAAAABjA/9JcQYMxfO9E/s1600/met-hansel-chefs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RrB1qjo_HRo/Uxd-TdLZqzI/AAAAAAAABjA/9JcQYMxfO9E/s1600/met-hansel-chefs.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>those were actually hanging about backstage</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As we went to Level C the tour guide asked us to pick a nail from the floor, one for each and he told us how some singers would only go on after they’ve found a nail on stage to bring them luck. He said we could keep our nails for good luck, mine is currently resting beside my bed inside my wand case.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Level C is where the two big rehearsal rooms are and since there were no rehearsals happening we could actually go inside the rooms. They were so immense! One of them was a little bit bigger than the Met stage! It was fun to see the tape marking on the floor with the names of the operas in them. They were currently rehearsing The Enchanted Island so we had Sycorax’s place marked as well as Prospero’s, quite a lot of fun! Then we headed to the stage area where we could spot some of that beautiful scenery from Prince Igor, the red flowers. All the boxes and things we went by had their respective opera names written on them. We also went by the costume racks for Enchanted Island so I could actually see up close Placido Domingo’s awesome Neptune costume. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When we went into the auditorium they had about half of the scenery of The Enchanted Island up on stage which was so weird because it looked so small. I never saw this opera live, only on my pc. We didn’t spend half as much time as I would have liked in the auditorium though but we did get to sit on the expensive seats. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When the tour was over we went to the Met Store and Melanie was waiting for us. We had a happy hug moment and then looked through the store. Then we took the subway uptown to have lunch at the Shake Shack, after a very long wait we ate and had a lot of fun, opera gossiping and eating carbs like there was no tomorrow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2eKMHLnpmh8/Uxd_L-X0fpI/AAAAAAAABjc/dE5IMedMSrE/s1600/923471_815570228460213_1183233886_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2eKMHLnpmh8/Uxd_L-X0fpI/AAAAAAAABjc/dE5IMedMSrE/s1600/923471_815570228460213_1183233886_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">we just had to take the silly picture with Jonas' poster</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then we went to the American Museum of Natural History, yes, the museum from the movie. We didn’t walk a lot about the museum though. We went to this super awesome butterfly exhibit that we had butterflies flying everywhere around you, like loads of them, it was pretty Disney movie cool. Then after some turbulence we were able to get into a space thing exhibit that showed the history of the universe and of galaxies. Mike, who was most excited about this, slept. It was dark and he hadn’t had much sleep. And there was a point that I just had to say “I’m scared” to which both of my friends totally cracked up right in the middle of this super trippy video thing. Overall it was a lot of fun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NFvkY_ElaL0/Uxd_GlTpr5I/AAAAAAAABjI/phHEQLnAxDs/s1600/IMG_20140216_150555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NFvkY_ElaL0/Uxd_GlTpr5I/AAAAAAAABjI/phHEQLnAxDs/s1600/IMG_20140216_150555.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oQ3WqP2NzI/Uxd4xPff48I/AAAAAAAABi0/yVxe0M9E56I/s1600/IMG_20140216_150528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oQ3WqP2NzI/Uxd4xPff48I/AAAAAAAABi0/yVxe0M9E56I/s1600/IMG_20140216_150528.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3P741v-dteI/Uxd_JeYr92I/AAAAAAAABjU/-psjWTpQ3rA/s1600/IMG_20140216_150705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3P741v-dteI/Uxd_JeYr92I/AAAAAAAABjU/-psjWTpQ3rA/s1600/IMG_20140216_150705.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Before this universe exhibit we went to the cafeteria and just sat there for a while chatting and you know who I saw there? Derek Wills! Yes, the British stage director from Smash, the guy who was supposed to marry Elisabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean 1. I was so shocked, what actually caught my attention was the voice, the accent, it was so familiar, then I turn to my side and BAM, there he is telling his kid he could not get this or that soda. My friends didn’t know who he was and I was left to fangirl alone. Of course I didn’t go up to talk to him because you never know how they are gonna react, plus, I didn’t really want to. Although he is super handsome he didn’t look very friendly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qn-uUHMNSOI/Uxd_xuHWgCI/AAAAAAAABjg/-hBHa1DYPL8/s1600/1392592974453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qn-uUHMNSOI/Uxd_xuHWgCI/AAAAAAAABjg/-hBHa1DYPL8/s1600/1392592974453.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 happy heads at the Museum</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We spend like 2 minutes in the souvenir shop when suddenly they are announcing that the museum was gonna close so get out! Mel’s parents picked her up and me and Mike walked about 20 streets beside a frozen Central Park until I couldn’t take it no more and we took the subway to Barnes and Noble on 5</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Ave. We hanged there for quite a long time just browsing through all those amazing books and chatting and then when they were announcing that they were closing the store we left.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fVoVRDgr34c/UxeAA7qzuRI/AAAAAAAABjo/znjh8eAk3Cw/s1600/IMG_20140216_211504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fVoVRDgr34c/UxeAA7qzuRI/AAAAAAAABjo/znjh8eAk3Cw/s1600/IMG_20140216_211504.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was very cold but it was also so gorgeous, the moon looked exquisite</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We headed our separate ways and when I got to my hotel I collapsed on the bed just thinking what an amazing first day without worrying about taking an audition that had been. And of course how very lucky I am to have found such amazing and unique friends! God bless twitter!</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I'll try and post more as soon as I have a moment to sit down and write. See ya soon everyone! Cheers! &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-11595342517990083662014-02-27T17:33:00.000-05:002014-02-27T17:33:00.360-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC (days 2 & 3) - Hartford, The Audition and Rusalka at the Met<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hallo world! It’s has been so incredibly crazy and wonderful! I decided not to post while I was there because 1- there was hardly any time to do so and 2- because I wanted to write it well. I’m already back in Brazil, arrived on Monday but let’s go back in time to NYC. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So Friday (the 14<sup>th</sup>) was kind of a dead day because me and my mum went to Hartford that day in the afternoon. So we basically just ate and got our stuff ready, went to Port Authority and got on the bus to Hartford. I did eat a Salmon Wasabi Bagel that had WAY too much wasabi and my eyes started watering, it was pretty awful. We got to Hartford at about 6, grabbed a cab and I could understand about 25% of what the taxi driver was saying (I didn’t really like him)! At the hotel there were the sweetest reception ladies that made us feel so at home and comfortable and with whom we shared a lot of conversation over our Valentine’s day dinner. Me and mum did manage to lock ourselves out of the hotel room which was pretty pathetic but also oh so funny. Our room was fantastic and I had a really good night’s sleep.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kZMWWJleyVA/Uw-tqYahKUI/AAAAAAAABf0/NaiZgEPYfXc/s1600/1184788_10152046843512713_1894198965_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kZMWWJleyVA/Uw-tqYahKUI/AAAAAAAABf0/NaiZgEPYfXc/s1600/1184788_10152046843512713_1894198965_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>me and mum having our Valentine's Day dinner</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Next day was completely different, totally heretic and crazy! So we woke up pretty early, had some breakfast and packed our stuff and asked one of the nice ladies from the reception for a cab. When we got to the cab it was the very same guy from last night! He left us at The Hartt School and my heart started pounding real fast. The whole university was covered with snow but I could see how absolutely gigantic it was plus it was beautiful. We got in and I checked in with a very nice girl named Mia (yeah, like the princess!) and we got to talking a lot and guess what? She knows Sydney!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I went to this talk thing that was happening in this big gorgeous auditorium (they have so many, I was drooling!) about scholarships and life on campus and the school. It was pretty nice and a good way to keep my mind occupied so I wouldn’t be so nervous. Around 11:30 I went up to the fourth floor to do my warm ups, there were some pretty nice people there (all the students that were working that day were incredibly nice). Well, I got into a professor’s office which was my assigned place for warm-ups and started doing my thing and texting my voice teacher. I did about 15 minutes of vocal warm ups and a guy knocked on my door and said they were ready for me. HOLY SHIT! I grabbed my stuff and out I went only to find Sydney standing there! I was so happy to see her that the nervousness kinda diminished a bit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3RWj0mqNoRI/Uw-uhUPpahI/AAAAAAAABf8/6Bof3QpITE0/s1600/1779069_10152048371372713_1783860905_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3RWj0mqNoRI/Uw-uhUPpahI/AAAAAAAABf8/6Bof3QpITE0/s1600/1779069_10152048371372713_1783860905_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Selfie warming up!</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But on I was and in I went for my audition. The room I took my audition in was quite big and there was a long table with about 6 teachers there. There was a small stage with a piano and a pianist. The teachers were really nice and kept asking me fun sorts of questions. They said I could pick my first song so I picked the Modinha by Villa Lobos which was what Gerald Finley had advised me to do. To sing in my own native tongue as quickly as possible to show them my individuality and all. The pianist was insanely good, the intro to this song is super difficult and he totally pulled it off. I sang and I think I did a good job, I didn’t crack and I could hear my voice travelling quite nicely in that room with incredible acoustics.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Then they asked me what else I had brought and they decided on Les Filles de Cadix! One of the hardest ones! Apart from being super incredible the pianist was also so very nice. That Spanish tune went on and there I was, I sang and I didn’t crack which was fantastic. I did mess up some tempos because I was so nervous but overall I think it went pretty well. The high notes sounded really pretty and were kind of effortless and I made it to the end without passing out. After I finished one of the teachers said <i>“Thank you very much, we will let you know”</i>. I then turned to the pianist in a very discreet manner (as if) and asked him if it was good thing or bad that they didn’t ask me to do the sight reading thing. He told me that they probably just forgot and so I thanked him and flew out of that audition room feeling the weight of the world finally getting off my shoulders!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sydney was waiting out for me and she said that from what she could hear I went pretty well. She showed me around campus a bit, to the libraries and stuff but it was really cold and snowing. We went to a small auditorium where I would be taking my Music Aptitude Test, I was a little afraid of it but as soon as I took it I was chilled. It wasn’t very difficult but I couldn’t wait for it to be over!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-50Y682VmCEY/Uw-vTGLr1EI/AAAAAAAABgI/vVNIkgJVJ-s/s1600/1604506_10152048275052713_329622627_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-50Y682VmCEY/Uw-vTGLr1EI/AAAAAAAABgI/vVNIkgJVJ-s/s1600/1604506_10152048275052713_329622627_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Sydney and I</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I had a chance to talk to some people who were applying to the school and everyone just seemed so nice! After some time me and mum met Sydney and we ate at a supermarket place at the university. It was a shame our taxi got to Hartford University so quickly, we had to say our goodbyes and leave for the bus station. It was snowing by then and really cold. Our bus left 20 minutes late and the driver drove SO SLOWLY I wanted to murder him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You see, Saturday I had a very good balcony ticket for the very last Rusalka from the Met which is probably the last Rusalka Renée Fleming would do, ever. My bus was to leave Hartford at 4:00 and arrive in NYC at 6:30. Bottom-line I was oh so very nervous for the whole trip, I watched about 3 episodes of Dracula to see if I could distract myself, it helped a bit. I was particularly pissed off because the driver took 9</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;Ave to head to Port Authority which means that, yes, we went by the Met at about 7:30. I went to the driver and asked him for the love of God to open the door so I could hop out because I had tickets for the opera and I wouldn’t be able to make it otherwise. The fucking bastard said that he just couldn’t do that and so, yes, I saw the Met go by and so went by my first act of Rusalka.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But I wasn’t going to give up so easily, 7:43 we arrived at Port Authority and I was flying out of that bus and into the subway. Flying from the subway to Columbus Circle and ran 3 blocks up to Lincoln Center and let me tell you, IT WAS SOOO COLD. And the streets were filled with snow and ice so it was quite slippery. 7:55 I was in front of the Met hardly believing I had made it. As I ran up the stairs to the Balcony area I could hear the instruments tuning and that lady with that instrument I do not know the name of which meant that the performance was gonna start at any minute. I could have totally passed out when I got there. I went inside and looked back only to spot Mike right away! I started screaming “Mike, MIKE!” but my voice was very weak because of the running. Suddenly I hear someone screaming “ISABELA!” it was Harry. We waved enthusiastically at each other, I got myself some water and went to my seat just as the lights were dimming still panting from the running marathon. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To top things off just before the performance started Peter Gelb appeared on stage and there was a loud sigh from the audience and I was like <i>“Oh no, oh no, no, no!”</i>. Fortunately he was only there to let us know that Dolora Zajick</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;was sick but that she still wanted to perform and passed on to us her apologies. It took me the overture to have my blood run in a more human rate. The curtains open and you can’t help but be completely and utterly transported, I totally gasped when I saw that scenery. By the way I have not seen the live in HD nor have I ever seen this opera ever before so it was all new to me. For the first act we have the lake where Rusalka lives with her Green Gnome dad, the effect used for the water is the same as the one they use for Turandot and it definitely looks awesome when you are in the house but must have caused some confusion for the HD viewers. The set was boosted by the most amazing lighting design that could take you to literally any time of day in that place.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, in the beginning we have three nymphs playing around (much like the rhinemaidens) and then comes the Water Gnome who is completely blue and a total base. That guy’s voice is deep as hell! This scene reminded me a bit of Das Rheinegold because of the three beauties teasing someone who they knew wasn’t up to their standards. Rusalka then appears and I’m FREAKING OUT because it’s Renée Fleming, one of my personal heroes for crying out loud! Right after some song making with her Gnome dad and telling him she’s totally depressed because she’s in love with a human prince she sings her signature aria. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t a very big fan of the acoustics from where she was singing, her voice sounded a little muffed (gorgeous as usual but muffed), I think the tree was too upstage and too high so the sound didn’t travel as well as some of the other singers’ did.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-klQCsGOVkvs/Uw-2UOlW2mI/AAAAAAAABgU/8LfX7b3J8Zc/s1600/rusalka-renae-fleming-in-the-title-role-3-photo-by-ken-howard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-klQCsGOVkvs/Uw-2UOlW2mI/AAAAAAAABgU/8LfX7b3J8Zc/s1600/rusalka-renae-fleming-in-the-title-role-3-photo-by-ken-howard.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But the aria itself was like walking into a dream, although I felt the tempo being a little bit dragged! I couldn’t believe my luck that was actually getting to experience such a thing as this! Renée was glorious and she held that high B flat just a little bit longer like she always does and then there was a rain of applause that must have lasted 30 seconds. Rusalka goes to the witch</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">Jezhibaba s</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">o she can turn her into a human (very much like the Little Mermaid). Let me tell you&nbsp;Dolora Zajick did not sound sick at all, her voice is totally huge and it just&nbsp;traveled&nbsp;beautifully through&nbsp;the whole theater. The character of the witch wasn’t exactly a villain but more like a mean comic relief. She asks Rusalka for her voice in exchange for the potion that will make her human plus if her lover is untrue to her she is condemned to become a dark water spirit neither living nor dead for the rest of her days and if her lover kissed her after that he would die. Pretty brutal, right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPJiQDHnZDw/Uw-3UTDaTzI/AAAAAAAABgc/6aEQe-KI65c/s1600/rusalka_Detail+Main+Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPJiQDHnZDw/Uw-3UTDaTzI/AAAAAAAABgc/6aEQe-KI65c/s1600/rusalka_Detail+Main+Image.jpg" height="293" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They leave and on comes the Prince played by dashing tenor Piotr Beczala. I had already seen him live as Lensky which was such a wonderful performance but this one was even better. He sounded absolutely on the top of his game, voice crystal clear, beautiful color and charming all over, just a dream! And of course he has all that prince swagger dominated so he looked and sounded just perfect for the role of the Foreign Prince. He walks in and goes straight to the water to which he looks lovingly and strokes the water.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4wc19531RQ/Uw-3xFQKp6I/AAAAAAAABgs/0UPr-f80B5w/s1600/SHENGOLD-rusalka-IS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4wc19531RQ/Uw-3xFQKp6I/AAAAAAAABgs/0UPr-f80B5w/s1600/SHENGOLD-rusalka-IS.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X0UBUXfu6Uo/Uw-3uZbQ1_I/AAAAAAAABgk/cVs16FE2n_o/s1600/rusalka-dvorak-the-met-live-in-hd-2014-i93359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X0UBUXfu6Uo/Uw-3uZbQ1_I/AAAAAAAABgk/cVs16FE2n_o/s1600/rusalka-dvorak-the-met-live-in-hd-2014-i93359.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You see Rusalka is a water spirit, even though she looks like a woman to the audience she is really a wave from that river. And when the Prince comes and strokes the water and stares at it so tenderly Rusalka falls for him, after all he is caressing her! When Rusalka reveals her human self to him it’s like one of those love at first sight scenes, the Prince is completely taken by her beauty but she can’t speak.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And so one of the most interesting things happens. On the page this part looks like an aria, just the Prince singing but when you see and hear it it’s more like a one person duet. His lines yearn to be completed by something she would say, same with some vocal lines. It’s quite romantic and Renée is so absolutely graceful! This role fits her like a glove! They head off and it’s intermission time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Normally I’m not a very big fan of long intermissions but, one, I had fantastic friends to chat to and two even if I didn’t I could just stare at those beautiful chandeliers all through it quite happily. I finally met Mike one of my closest and oldest twitter friends and saw Sasha and Harry again. I might have been over enthusiastic when hugging the friends. We chatted and the 30 minute intermission felt like 10 minutes. The gongs went off and it was time for me to get me ass back to me seat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v6ktwSMM3ZY/Uw-4X6FnA3I/AAAAAAAABg0/xkfADqeWC5E/s1600/1623680_10152048974262713_810848377_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v6ktwSMM3ZY/Uw-4X6FnA3I/AAAAAAAABg0/xkfADqeWC5E/s1600/1623680_10152048974262713_810848377_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy intermission!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Second act is set just outside the Prince’s castle where you can see a big stair case and some large glass doors that led inside the castle. This first part we had the kitchen boy (a mezzo) and a huntsman chatting about this strange girl that the Prince found by the lake and with whom he’s totally in love with. The thing is, nobody really likes Rusalka, they think she’s weird and a little bit nuts. Because as a water spirit she was sweet, gentle and shy but as a human she has the very same personality but now in a human body, for you to get a mental picture she’s a bit like Luna Lovegood, with her head up in the clouds. Plus she’s very frigid to the Prince's caresses because she doesn’t really understand them. So Rusalka is not at all popular and is feeling quite literally like a fish out of water.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H54fNbXiieg/Uw-5WW2AEDI/AAAAAAAABhE/mjXSMOs2XyM/s1600/14230036-standard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H54fNbXiieg/Uw-5WW2AEDI/AAAAAAAABhE/mjXSMOs2XyM/s1600/14230036-standard.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They come out and the Prince is making an effort to try and understand why Rusalka is so different and odd. He says she’s beautiful but her beauty is cold and he yearns for the warmth of her love for him. Enters then THE bitch, the Foreign Princess who is so pissed off because she was to be marrying the Prince but isn’t anymore because of Rusalka. She makes every effort to try and humiliate and bully Rusalka and to make her look unfitting and odd to the Prince’s eyes. She sways his attention by pointing out that he is giving a ball and should be a good host. The Prince takes the Princess by the arm and leaves poor Rusalka outside alone. She is miserable obviously, for the first time since she traded away her voice Rusalka speaks and her father appears and they have a long conversation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-hy7ImBhF4E4%2FUw-5h2ElW_I%2FAAAAAAAABhY%2Fp5SGg8GnR8E%2Fs1600%2F6a00d8341c4e3853ef01a51168f9da970c.jpg&amp;container=blogger&amp;gadget=a&amp;rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hy7ImBhF4E4/Uw-5h2ElW_I/AAAAAAAABhY/p5SGg8GnR8E/s1600/6a00d8341c4e3853ef01a51168f9da970c.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EG0uCn4wI9I/Uw-5CFhQkNI/AAAAAAAABg8/f1Njxq0M4io/s1600/John+Relyea+as+the+Water+Sprite+Ken+Howard-Metropolitan+Opera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EG0uCn4wI9I/Uw-5CFhQkNI/AAAAAAAABg8/f1Njxq0M4io/s1600/John+Relyea+as+the+Water+Sprite+Ken+Howard-Metropolitan+Opera.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Prince reappears with the Princess and we can see through the glass doors that he’s making out with her with much ardor. What a dick! He comes back only to scorn Rusalka and tell her it wasn’t really going to work out because she’s so odd and chooses to be with the Foreign Princess. The water Gnome appears and takes Rusalka away and tells the Prince what an awful mistake he just made. As the Prince approaches the Princess once more she now scorns him and laughs at his face.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUhqX9bX1RA/Uw-5gHKLz3I/AAAAAAAABhQ/YCbQ2nQTl4w/s1600/ruskala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUhqX9bX1RA/Uw-5gHKLz3I/AAAAAAAABhQ/YCbQ2nQTl4w/s1600/ruskala.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">End of act 2 and another great intermission featuring some of my best opera buddies. But all good things tend to feel as if they last 5 minutes and before I knew it we had to run back to our seats for act 3.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now in act 3 we have all that ‘you reap what you sow’ thing. Rusalka is back to her lake, cursed and miserable but she hasn’t touched the water yet, only when she touches the water she used to call home will she be cursed. She urges&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jezhibaba&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">to help her get back to her sisters and forget all this&nbsp;business.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jezhibaba&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">tells her there is a way for things to be just the way they were, Rusalka&nbsp;must take a knife&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jezhibaba</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;gave her and kill her beloved Prince, that way she will be able to live as a water nymph again. Rusalka is horrified and absolutely refuses to kill him saying she would rather suffer for eternity than to do that to him.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jezhibaba</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;is hardly impressed and gives her a “suit yourself bitch” look and heads off.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H671Onz_7oM/Uw-652N8AAI/AAAAAAAABho/nT5xyXBR4HM/s1600/rusalka-renee-fleming-piotr-beczala-592x395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H671Onz_7oM/Uw-652N8AAI/AAAAAAAABho/nT5xyXBR4HM/s1600/rusalka-renee-fleming-piotr-beczala-592x395.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iFB-iBv0huU/Uw-63bfD1LI/AAAAAAAABhg/HIJ9-8naKjU/s1600/rusulka-cap-master675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iFB-iBv0huU/Uw-63bfD1LI/AAAAAAAABhg/HIJ9-8naKjU/s1600/rusulka-cap-master675.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Rusalka goes inside the water and BANG she’s doomed! The Prince hurries to the lake but it’s too late, Rusalka is inside and totally cursed for good. They sing the most gorgeous duet and a water platform thing appears and Rusalka walks on the water toward her lover. When they meet they share a kiss that kills him and Rusalka goes back to the bottom of the lake to an eternity of misery. The end. Holy moly, that was SAD! I had to literally take a moment to just chill after that because as it ended I was crying like a baby!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Curtain call time and the people were quite enthusiastic. Here are some amazing pics my friend Felipe Cunha took, mine are awful!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tsvze7D6z4I/Uw-7SPQJZFI/AAAAAAAABhw/50ExAhX9nuY/s1600/1010100_10202968909523134_2028632473_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tsvze7D6z4I/Uw-7SPQJZFI/AAAAAAAABhw/50ExAhX9nuY/s1600/1010100_10202968909523134_2028632473_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Emily Magee as the Foreign Princess</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BqeTmyWF3Z4/Uw-7sRw0tMI/AAAAAAAABh4/QV7d3bK94Hs/s1600/1798461_10202968910003146_873561442_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BqeTmyWF3Z4/Uw-7sRw0tMI/AAAAAAAABh4/QV7d3bK94Hs/s1600/1798461_10202968910003146_873561442_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Dolora Zajick as&nbsp;<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;">Jezhibaba</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvaq8_43Ofs/Uw-78GQzDOI/AAAAAAAABiA/tkIvNjfZlvw/s1600/1888572_10202968910683163_1333412822_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvaq8_43Ofs/Uw-78GQzDOI/AAAAAAAABiA/tkIvNjfZlvw/s1600/1888572_10202968910683163_1333412822_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Piotr Beczala as the Prince</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JMZnCo8v-s/Uw-8GGihbsI/AAAAAAAABiI/G1FqXLj4JIM/s1600/1800457_10202968911003171_1153097931_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JMZnCo8v-s/Uw-8GGihbsI/AAAAAAAABiI/G1FqXLj4JIM/s1600/1800457_10202968911003171_1153097931_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Renée Fleming as Rusalka</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that we all head down to the stage door. Stage dooring is a lot of fun but it is also a very nerve-racking business. Because you never know in what mood the singer is going to be in or whatever so I’m always excited but a little bit afraid. The more I like the singer the more afraid I am and keep rehearsing what I’m going to say to them in my head. So you can only imagine the state I was because of Renée. Getting to the stage door we had our usual crazy people and some normal people, there were about 25 people there if I can remember correctly. Dolora came out and just walked past everyone, did not stop not even to take a breath. I do understand her though, she was apparently recovering from sickness and must have been really tired.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Piotr was a sweetheart as always! Gosh I adore him, he is such a fantastic singer, great actor and such a cool person. He stopped to chat with us and even said he remembered me from Onegin! It was really cold so I was wearing my ridiculous hat and as I took it off to take the picture with him he told me he loved playing that game so we thought the bird should make an apparition at the picture.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bV8ywI4As2o/Uw-8l9rNiOI/AAAAAAAABiQ/mogj4hRCdzM/s1600/1962808_10152049689647713_1284472353_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bV8ywI4As2o/Uw-8l9rNiOI/AAAAAAAABiQ/mogj4hRCdzM/s1600/1962808_10152049689647713_1284472353_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After a while Renée came out and my heart was beating so fast I could have chocked on it. She talked to everyone and signed everything, she’s so fantastic! Although she would sign the programs of the stage door beggars (yes, that’s what I’m calling them now, my friend Felipe’s creation) with just a line. She finally came our way and we got to chat with her a little bit and I told her everything I wanted to tell her. She was very sweet but we could see it that she was very tired. She signed everything and also wrote a few words for me in my Inner Voice which was so amazing. I forgot to take off the pathetic hat before the picture, hence:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZueryqeD9rE/Uw-84fZvf0I/AAAAAAAABiY/zzPpo3UXIss/s1600/1896748_10152049231312713_160384024_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZueryqeD9rE/Uw-84fZvf0I/AAAAAAAABiY/zzPpo3UXIss/s1600/1896748_10152049231312713_160384024_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After all the stage door fever me, we went to PJ Clarks to grab something to eat and did not leave ‘till 2 in the morning or something. It was pretty fun, I loved seeing some of my friends again and meeting in person others. So I guess that was that for that Saturday. Stay tuned for more and pray that I get into The Hartt School!</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cheers! &nbsp;</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-8570017056982572552014-02-25T21:00:00.000-05:002014-02-25T21:00:21.533-05:00Here and Back Again in NYC (day 1) - Snowy Arrival and Gerald Finley singing Schubert<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey everybody! Guess from where I’m writing this little post! From my hotel room in New York! Yes! And let me tell you all about my first day in da city! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Starting off with the fact that yesterday morning I woke up to the horrendous news that a snow storm was hitting New York City on the very same day of my arrival. A few hours later I started coming across all kinds of people who had their flights cancelled to New York because of the storm. Now, I couldn’t just tell my mom, she’d be terrified and refuse to go and would not rest until I told her I wasn’t going either. So I kept it all to myself and kept checking the Delta website every 5 minutes to see my flight’s status. Well we packed, we screamed at each other and me and mom were out to the airport, the car journey took about an hour and a half. Even though we were 4 hours early the plane departed with one hour of delay that did not surprise me since there was a storm coming up where we wanted to land! I hate flying, I never get any sleep and the chairs are uncomfortable because I’d rather buy good seats to the opera than at a plane. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We did land smoothly after 10 hours on the air, we did have quite a bit of turbulence which terrified mum (and she didn’t even know about the storm then!). When we got out of the plane the first thing I saw was snow! Now, I had never seen snow before so for me it was like magic! I was only wearing a t-shirt and a jacket and feeling fine with that snow falling from the sky and landing everywhere. The journey to the city was fine but there was snow everywhere, I felt like I was in a Christmas Movie or something!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXQhbuh2srU/Uv5Q11FnpvI/AAAAAAAABfA/8Tl17B_DGGg/s1600/1656063_10152043135717713_93157950_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXQhbuh2srU/Uv5Q11FnpvI/AAAAAAAABfA/8Tl17B_DGGg/s1600/1656063_10152043135717713_93157950_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We left our heavy luggage at the Hotel and vestured off to Starbucks to have a happy breakfast. We only forgot about one tiny detail; the storm. Have you ever experienced a storm? You know in Frozen when there are those rough winds with snow? It’s very much like the ending of Frozen, I felt like Anna, freezing to death fighting the winds. We had an umbrella, I brought it because of the rain, but we used him in the storm and it died. After me getting loads of snow inside my mouth because I was laughing too hard at my mother almost falling every 5 steps she took we arrived at Starbucks. We drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of yummy things and neither was very keen on leaving. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8oMkdMYQMJI/Uv5QlLtsJLI/AAAAAAAABeY/nyKTUzSd7rM/s1600/blizard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8oMkdMYQMJI/Uv5QlLtsJLI/AAAAAAAABeY/nyKTUzSd7rM/s1600/blizard2.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3S95toqofw4/Uv5QmBkHqSI/AAAAAAAABeg/723sDg43JYI/s1600/blizard1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3S95toqofw4/Uv5QmBkHqSI/AAAAAAAABeg/723sDg43JYI/s1600/blizard1.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I was actually kind of sad, because the storm was really bad, that Starbucks was like a block away from the hotel and getting to it had felt like building the great wall of China. I wanted to go to Lincoln Center if only just to drool and cry and look at the cool stuff at the Met store. We went back to the hotel and got to the hotel room, pretty nice, two queen beds, spacious and free wifi. After about half an hour it stopped snowing so I decided to get some things done now that it was ok to walk outside.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kZyyCwe4U-w/Uv5Qj1acXOI/AAAAAAAABeQ/9OfftNywTuI/s1600/eu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kZyyCwe4U-w/Uv5Qj1acXOI/AAAAAAAABeQ/9OfftNywTuI/s1600/eu.jpg" height="400" width="308" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oh, how I was wrong! It had stopped snowing, that’s true but it had started raining! It was about 0 degrees and the rain was falling in the diagonal, almost horizontally sometimes. Result; I got super wet, my boots got wet, my feet, my trousers… And I could feel the front part of my wet tights burn because of the cold wind that was blowing, worst sensation ever. Nevertheless I did go to Carnegie Hall and picked up my tickets and did the stuff I needed to do. My prize? Going to the Met!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrijcwoMHu4/Uv5Q86KLMfI/AAAAAAAABfM/5eTaG15sclc/s1600/1779900_10152043580182713_677899314_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrijcwoMHu4/Uv5Q86KLMfI/AAAAAAAABfM/5eTaG15sclc/s1600/1779900_10152043580182713_677899314_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But the thing is, to get to the Met I had to navigate the melting streets of Manhattan and that is an art! I felt like I was a character in a video game or something. What happens is: it snows, the temperature is a little below zero, it stops snowing and the temperature rises a bit to a little something above zero. That little subtle yet fatal change in temperature starts to slowly melt the fluffy snow on the floor turning it into something I like to call “street slushie”. Trucks clean the car ways and people clean the side walk but what people neglect to clean up is the little piece of street between the side walk and the street the cars use. Actually most of the snow removed actually goes to this spot. What happens? It’s impossible to cross the street because one step out of line and you have your precious foot underneath urban freezing New York slushie water/snow/ice thing, the point is that it makes your shoe wet, your socks wet and your foot wet and it’s already really cold here. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So basically one of the things that I have learned today was to navigate the slushie and make sure I don’t take a false step into freezing waters. I eventually got to the Met, although I was all wet. I sat for a while in one of those benches inside the Met outside the Met Store. When I felt I was politely dry enough I entered the shop and just browsed through the stuff. Ah, it’s so great to be back here! I feel whole, it’s so odd walking along these streets it feels so natural to me.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I got a DVD of that concert Dmitri Hvorostovsky did with Sondra Radvanovsky in Moscow plus I got my Rusalka ticket!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I was just about to leave when a man stopped directly in front of me, from a certain distance, and started texting. At first I squinted my eyes to see if he was who I thought he was then I quickly reached for my glasses and saw it was him! David Daniels, the Met’s super counter tenor. Then I did something that is worthy of my dear opera bff Otávio and of which I’m slightly ashamed of confessing… I followed him! Down the stairs, out the door, out the other door, (Oh my God he’s heading to the stage door you gotta catch up with him) I pretend to be running for something, turn my head in his direction at the very last minute and say “Hey! Excuse me, I’m so sorry to bother you, but aren’t you David Daniels?”. We chatted for a little bit and he was THE sweetest! So nice and asked me fun questions. When I asked for a picture he said “Yes, but only taken from above” to which I replied “Do you thing I take any other type?” but a guy turned up and took it for us. He was on his way to rehearse The Enchanted Island which is so thrilling!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_KW-oZ5twY/Uv5Q9BIurSI/AAAAAAAABfQ/nkZx3CFCzEQ/s1600/meanddavid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_KW-oZ5twY/Uv5Q9BIurSI/AAAAAAAABfQ/nkZx3CFCzEQ/s1600/meanddavid.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After that I came hopping back to the hotel and me and mum had lunch together at a restaurant close to our hotel. Again she almost fell several times trying to cross the street, my entertainment is forever guaranteed! After that we came back to the hotel (it was a late lunch) and I started writing this post while trying to watch Renée Fleming’s masterclass that was streamed online but couldn’t.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCvsxRWbSpU/Uv5QqIohZ2I/AAAAAAAABeo/9QnOqrl3V54/s1600/patrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCvsxRWbSpU/Uv5QqIohZ2I/AAAAAAAABeo/9QnOqrl3V54/s1600/patrick.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patrick during lunch, happy to be inside with the snowy weather</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Around 6:30pm I left the hotel all ready to go to my first night out of fantastic music in New York, Gerald Finley and Julius Drake performing Schurbert’s Witerriese. First of all it wasn’t at the big hall of Carnegie, it was at the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall to which I had never been and was very excited to experience. This musical event was unlike any other musical event I ever went in NYC or anywhere really. Everybody there was dressed well but rather casually which I found most revigorating and cozy. The hall is so lovely, it is much smaller but I think it’s perfect for this kind of recitals, it gives you that intimate feel that a big hall just cannot provide. Also almost everybody there that I could spot was there for the music and not just some social status of being in an expensive musical event in the city.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kB-UV438joU/Uv5QwvH22OI/AAAAAAAABe4/xzW_V2-A9n8/s1600/1904172_10152044614457713_264945769_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kB-UV438joU/Uv5QwvH22OI/AAAAAAAABe4/xzW_V2-A9n8/s1600/1904172_10152044614457713_264945769_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>view from my seat, second row :)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gerald Finley came out first and spoke a few words to the public and mostly thanked us all for coming despite of the crazy heretic weather. The hall wasn’t full but almost about 8/10 full but I knew that that concert had sold out and people hadn’t come because they really weren’t able to get to NYC today because of the storm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, I don’t know much about Lieder and I don’t like pretending I do but that was freaking awesome! I was feeling stuff by the end I didn’t even know I could feel, it was so intense, so well executed, with so much artistry from both performers and also so much humility. I’ll talk more about Gerald because I’m a singer and of course I paid more attention to the singer. Seriously now, the moment he opened his mouth and started singing I went “Oh my!” and kinda held my breath, I couldn’t believe it, it was so simple and yet absurdly beautiful. His objective was so clear, to be a vessel to tell the music of Schubert through his voice, to show us what each little piece was about through his voice and fantastic facial expressions that were just the right dosage. I was so impressed by his technique, of course I knew he had a killer technique because of other works he’s done but to hear it live it’s unbelievable!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">People, go see stuff live, the sensation of a singer’s voice vibrating in your face without the use of any amplification is like no other, you will be touched, I’m sure!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There were so many songs in that cycle and I think that he recorded a CD singing these and I promise to review this CD as soon as I buy it with more details. I just know that right at the begging, I think it was the fourth song <i>“Erstarrung”,</i> there was one song that his rendition nearly drove me to tears. But that’s the thing about these song cycles, you have to really know them in order to appreciate the performance you see more (that’s for everything not just song cycles). From this particular one I knew I liked the last song “Der Leiermann” in which Gerry carried a lot of emotion and at the end drew a very long pure silence from the audience, nobody even dared to breathe. Then he lowered his head and the hall exploded with applause, they did 3 curtain calls, another real first for curtain calls I attended here in NY. By the end I swear to God I was dizzy, didn’t know what to say or think, I just knew I needed to share that with someone. I noticed that that was the general feeling amongst the people who watched, most of them were very really touched by what they saw.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">After the recital Gerald did pop up in the reception area and as a line formed to talk to him he would talk to everybody for as long as the person wanted to talk to him. I wanted to speak to him SO BAD! But I was very nervous and very cold which made me tremble nonstop. So I waited for a while for all the other people to talk to him and before I know it he’s having the most enlightened conversation with a 12 year old young musician to be who keeps asking for advice, he was very cute and intelligent, he talked like an actual grown up. After the boy left it was my turn and I was so nervous. He was absolutely incredible! I told him I was from Brazil and we entered in conversation quite easily, I told him I was auditioning for the grad program on Saturday. He was very interested to know what I was singing plus he gave me great tips of what to do in my audition that I think will really make a difference. I told him I loved his masterclass and he was so flattered and we started talking about giving Mozart for young singers and something in my head was like “OH MY GWAD YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT MOZART WITH THE GUY WHO WAS YOUR FIRST ALMAVIVA!”. We talked for a while and he was so incredible, supportive and HELPFUL, really, just AWESOME! We took a picture (of course!) and he gave me a big hug and his most sincere well wishes for my audition when we said goodbye. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C0MoTrPZwxQ/Uv5Qq4wrxxI/AAAAAAAABew/2onGyr1wCpc/s1600/gerryandme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C0MoTrPZwxQ/Uv5Qq4wrxxI/AAAAAAAABew/2onGyr1wCpc/s1600/gerryandme.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You can only imagine I came back to the hotel eating snowflakes out of happiness. And now here I am, writing it down! One more thing, New York is the BEST place to be!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-77162735329891171782014-01-21T07:58:00.000-05:002014-01-21T07:58:27.550-05:00Movie Marathon<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hallo everybody! It’s been a while since my last post, I do apologize. Today is a very sad day for the whole musical community, the renowned Italian conductor Claudio Abbado has passed away. And I got rather upset when I heard the news, we get so emotionally attached to these people because of the beautiful work they do it feels as if it was someone I knew.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But I’m here to talk about good things. Like the fact that The Hartt School called me to audition for their Graduate Voice Program. YAY! This means I will be going to the US once again and staying in NYC for a while longer! YAY! I’m really happy because so many of my friends are going to actually be there, some I’ve already met in person and others not. Plus I’m going to get to go to the Met and see some pretty freaking awesome opera! If any of you are going to be around here are my dates;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">13<sup>th</sup> of February - Gerald Finley Recital in Carnegie Hall<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">15<sup>th</sup> of February - Rusalka at the Met<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">17<sup>th</sup> of February - Prince Igor at the Met<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">18<sup>th</sup> of February - Werther at the Met<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">20<sup>th</sup> of February - Jonas Kaufmann Recital in Carnegie Hall<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">22<sup>nd</sup> of February - Werther and Die Fledermaus at the Met<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I might go to Prince Igor on the 21<sup>st</sup>as well, but I will probably decide then. And I will most certainly be seeing some Broadway musicals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is a different kind of post, I’m not really going to talk about opera in this one. I did a rather fun thing last week that I wanted to share with you guys. I barely went to the movies last year because of all the college stress and there were SO MANY movies I really wanted to see that passed me by. So I did a all week cinema project, last week I went to the movies 5 days in a row. You might be socked as to what is playing now since some of these movies premiered last year in the US and have only just come out here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday - <b>Last Vegas</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWGeSnXYCuU/Ut2D-7hKXnI/AAAAAAAABcs/SITxmTVXldU/s1600/LAST-VEGAS-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWGeSnXYCuU/Ut2D-7hKXnI/AAAAAAAABcs/SITxmTVXldU/s1600/LAST-VEGAS-Poster.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’ll do a quick recap of the movie. It’s about these four guys who have been friends since they were 6 or something but now they are almost 80. One of them, Michael Douglas, is getting married to a 30 year old beauty and decides he wants to have his bachelor party in Vegas. As the other friends we have Robert De Niro, who lost his wife and is in a depressing mourning mojo, Kevin Klein, whose wife gives him a free pass and a Viagra pill for Vegas (his wife is played by Joanna Gleason, the original Baker’s Wife of Into the Woods, I’m a musical theater geek!) and Morgan Freeman, who had a light heart attack and now whose son is fussing about him and not letting him do anything. In this cast we also have the actress I love to call “Percy’s Mum”, she plays Percy Jackson’s mum and she’s just what I pictured for that character so I like calling her that, but I think she’s a fantastic actress. And to my absolute delight we also have one of my favorite Broadway performers all in drag Roger Bart, he did a lot of Broadway and some movies, he’s freaking awesome. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But on to the movie, really funny, but I’m a person who is easily amused. I went to this one with my mother and she is definitely not someone who laughs at just anything and she laughed a lot. But the laugh champion was the old lady sitting next to me, I guess I actually knew all that medication they were talking about. The movie is fun and light and has some minor drama that is resolved before you can say bazinga. It’s a feel good movie, fun but maybe not for the whole family, don’t take the kids. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TvK3m0wJutI?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">Tuesday - </span><span lang="EN">August: Osage County</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ir_Nr2hfMR8/Ut5pyuj1fqI/AAAAAAAABdY/4VMkqeZ3n1o/s1600/august_osage_county_ver2_xlrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ir_Nr2hfMR8/Ut5pyuj1fqI/AAAAAAAABdY/4VMkqeZ3n1o/s1600/august_osage_county_ver2_xlrg.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This one blew off the roof! The basic story is that the patriarch of the family goes missing and then is found dead and the whole family comes together to mourn. And we have an astounding cast, starting off with the woman who could even pull off playing Batman, the one and only Meryl Streep. She plays the mother who has mouth cancer and is so utterly addicted to pills, she’s got no filter, she says whatever she wants to say and don’t care about the consequences. As her daughters we have Julia Roberts, sort of separated from her husband with a teenage daughter, the youngest Julianne Nicholson , who has a bit of a lesbo vibe but really isn’t and the middle daughter Juliette Lewis who is kind of ignored and mistreated by her mother. To add to the cast we have Ewan McGregor as Julia Robert’s sort of husband, he had/ has been having an affair with a much younger lady, and their daughter is played by Abigail Breslin, rebel, smokes pot, the perfect dysfunctional family. To add to the mix we have Meryl Streep’s sister who is sort of a bitch and her nice husband and their son, played by none other than Benedict Cumberbatch (yes Sherlock!). I loved Benedick in this because he shows he’s really such a flexible actor, this character, Little Charles has next to zero similarities to Sherlock. Awkward, insecure, kind of daft, very pure of heart and sporting a thick American accent. Gotta love Cumberbatch, he can go from Dragon to this to Sherlock freaking Holmes! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This was definitely one of my favorites of the week, of the year. The story starts out kind of warm, the only high points being when Meryl Streep has a scene. But then it gets dark and profound and like a bomb is about to explode as the family secrets start coming out and everyone’s lives change forever. This movie is rather heavy, also not for all audiences, no kids or overly emotional people or people who think it’s comedy. Seriously, the daft girls sitting next to me, apart from not stop talking, thought it was a freaking comedy! I mean, have you seen the poster? It’s a great movie but it’s not for the faint of heart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/9Hd_uO72h1s/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/9Hd_uO72h1s&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/9Hd_uO72h1s&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wednesday&nbsp;-<b> Até que a sorte nos separe 2</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ikNZWm7bnJA/Ut5re82obsI/AAAAAAAABdk/xDAq7UHB0xk/s1600/sorte-2-bra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ikNZWm7bnJA/Ut5re82obsI/AAAAAAAABdk/xDAq7UHB0xk/s1600/sorte-2-bra.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is a <span lang="EN-US">Brazilian</span> movie, a sequel to “Até que a sorte nos separe”. <span lang="EN-US">Brazil produces REAL funny comedy movies, it’s so funny that you can’t hear all the jokes because everyone is laughing so hard at the previous ones. The story is the following, a young couple wins 100 million bucks in the lottery and after 15 years they have managed to spend EVERYTHING and are broke and in debt. They go through some pretty hard times and at the end the wife’s uncle takes pity on them and gives them some money and jobs and that’s how the first movie ends. In the second one the uncle dies leaving 50 million bucks in his will to his niece with a request that his ashes are to be thrown at the Grand Cannion by someone who loves him. So the family goes out to Las Vegas to throw the ashes, dad, mum and their two kids. But as the father is a complete idiot he manages to gamble away all his wife’s heritage and gets into a 10 million dollar debt with the leader of the Mexican Mafia. How stupid is that? The film is really funny, REALLY FUNNY. But at the end of the day I didn’t like it. It sends out the most absurd message. After being pursued by the mafia and kidnapped the cops arrest the mafia people. The guy’s wife actually forgives him for gambling away all her money (I mean, WHAT?) and an old rich man gives him a dollar which he gambles in the roulette and makes 2 freaking million dollars and they live happily ever after. So it’s ok to be totally irresponsible and inconsequential with someone else’s money because you are such a funny and well meaning guy? Ah! It seems like everything in this country is just wrong!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9krX7Kwsz6w?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thrusday - <b>Frozen</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now I’ve come to the conclusion that the older I get the more I cry watching Disney movies. I had heard just that day that there are plans to making a musical out of this movie and just today that there’s gonna be a sequel. For me it’s one of the best Disney movies I’ve seen so far. Ah I started crying at the Disney logo, I mean, what’s wrong with me?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HJelWPuhKXQ/Ut5tmWDgD2I/AAAAAAAABdw/OOGTpeFupfM/s1600/disney-frozen-poster-sept-16-2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HJelWPuhKXQ/Ut5tmWDgD2I/AAAAAAAABdw/OOGTpeFupfM/s1600/disney-frozen-poster-sept-16-2013.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Frozen tells the story of two sisters who are princesses, Elsa and Anna. But Elsa has a secret she has a freaky ice touch thing and she can basically turn stuff into ice and make ice stuff and snow. When they are little Elsa and Anna are best buddies and Anna knows about Elsa’s powers and they play in Elsa’s snow all the time. UNTIL the day Elsa’s magic accidentally hits Anna and she get weirdly sick and a strand of her hair turns white, like Elsa’s. The queen and king take Anna to the trolls, who are very cute, and the master troll cures Anna but the parents decide to make Anna forget about Elsa’s powers and to separate them and close up the gates of the castle for what they think is the best. Elsa feels super guilty and shuts herself away inside her room and almost never comes out. They grow and their parents end up dying in a ship wreck and after 3 years Elsa is to be crowned queen. The day of the coronation they open up the gates and hundreds of people come in (including Rapunzel and Flyn Ryder, yeah, cool). Anna meets a dreamy prince and they fall for each other almost instantly and he asks her to marry him and she says yes. At the party Anna asks Elsa for her blessing and as a responsible adult and queen she says “No, you can’t marry someone you’ve just met!” they argue and Elsa lets out her freaky powers by mistake and freaks everyone out and runs away. But in letting out her inner kraken she brings into the town an eternal winter feel. Now Anna goes after her so she can come back and unfreeze everything. On her way she meets a cutie named Christopher and his reindeer Swen who agree to help her and also Olaf the most adorable snow man ever!</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It’s a great movie with many plot twists and surprises. The music is beautiful, it seems as if it’s adaptaded already from a musical or maybe I dream too much. But it is very really good. The “theme” song “Let it go” sung by Elsa aka Idina Menzel aka Elphaba the wicked witch of the west is beautiful. Although I do think Idina’s singing is screamy at times and that bothers me a lot, I want Joyce singing this song! Pretty please! It’s a great movie for everyone in the family to watch, absolutely loved it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/moSFlvxnbgk?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday - <b>Delivery Man</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4oh4TDzbo2w/Ut5t-19tg7I/AAAAAAAABd4/tcZj9VSAzK0/s1600/11174563_800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4oh4TDzbo2w/Ut5t-19tg7I/AAAAAAAABd4/tcZj9VSAzK0/s1600/11174563_800.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When I saw this movie’s trailer I was like, man I need to see this movie! And I wasn’t disappointed. This movie tells a story of a guy, Vince Vaugh, who isn’t really good at doing anything in particular and every project he tries to start just blows up in his face. Plus he owes money to the mafia or something. He has this girlfriend who has just told him she is pregnant but wants to raise the kid on her own because he’s such an irresponsible douche bag. But one day a man comes to his apartment and tells him that there’s a big ass law suit on his back. When he was twenty something he donated his sperm 6 hundred and something times to the same fertility clinic. But the thing was, his sperm was rather good so the clinic used it a lot, I mean, A LOT. A lot like now he has 533 kids. And about a hundred of them want to know who he is and are filling a law suit for that information. The guy is completely stunned. His sons and daughters who want to meet him have all sent him a profile of their selves to see if he gets interested in coming out. Even though his lawyer told him not to read them he does and decides that he can’t be their father but he can be a guardian angel so he starts helping them out as best he can without revealing his identity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It’s a lovely movie, it’s funny, it has some drama, and it’s set in NYC. &nbsp;Think it’s fit for the whole family, it’s guarantee of a good time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yGAktL45XNQ?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ok so that’s it. I’m not a very good movie reviewer but I tried! I’ll be posting a lot next month so I’m getting back to my solfegio books now!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Peace everyone!</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-40877197752056375232014-01-10T09:29:00.002-05:002014-01-10T09:29:41.196-05:00Four Artists and a Fat Man <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Happy New Year everybody and merry Christmas! Long time no see! I’m so sorry about that, I did try to write several posts but they all kind of couldn’t stand for themselves, I’m feeling kinda bitter today so this post might be a little poisonous. And let me just draw your attention to the title of this post, it's supposed to be a derivation of Four Weddings and a Funeral, I'm so witty haha</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Today I’m talking about the two operas I saw in December of last year in São Paulo.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Generic Falstaff</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now, everybody went to the live in HD of Falstaff but I wasn’t able to make it. I was really upset about that. BUT only a week before that transmission the opera house just around the corner from my house was actually doing a production of Falstaff. Funny enough, that looking back at that production and of what I saw of the Met’s production they are oddly similar. Set in the same time in history, even the color choice of some sets were very much alike. But no matter. I did like this performance a lot. The guy playing Falstaff was really very good and VERY funny! It’s very difficult for me to warm up to female singers, maybe because being a female singer myself I can spot defects more easily in women. I thought they were all OK, Nanetta was kinda pissing me off, she was odd. The lady I mostly liked was Mistress Quickly, she was real good and her scene with Falstaff in the beginning of the third act was just superb. Another superb moment was Mr. Ford’s aria in the first part of the second act. That guy was good, real good. He got quite a nice ovation for his performance. But I think the part I mostly liked was the end in the woods. Maybe it’s because the chorus was a bunch of people that I knew from a choir I used to be part of and it was real fun to see them all dressed up. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-03xEgOIjgWM/UtACvpXUDRI/AAAAAAAABb4/0k6jtJ_xV0I/s1600/Falstaff_Sao_Pedro_1_G.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-03xEgOIjgWM/UtACvpXUDRI/AAAAAAAABb4/0k6jtJ_xV0I/s1600/Falstaff_Sao_Pedro_1_G.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But there lies one big problem with opera in Brazil. Those people, the chorus people, they are great people, such nice, hardworking and fairly good sounding people. BUT they are not singers, this choir is not a professional choir, it consists mostly of retired people who love to sing and although they sound quite nice I don’t think its right for them to do this project. This is supposed to be a professional production of Falstaff and the people who call the shots decided to call these people to sing for a very simple reason. They love to sing, singing for them is a hobby and they will sing for free, because they always sing for free and they did sing this opera for free, all of them. I just think it’s wrong having so many unemployed singers out there to just grab an amateur chorus that consists of people who learn their parts via audio MIDI files made in Finale to sing in a Verdi opera just because they will do it for free. And don’t get me started on “they don’t have enough money to pay for a chorus” because they do. This opera house is founded by the State Government and we pay a hell lot of taxes in this damned State. But that’s just a taste of glorious Brazil politics and lack of interest when it comes to anything that won’t profit billions.</span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Closing the Year a la Puccini</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The last opera I saw last year was La Boheme, I must admit I was very skeptical going to the Theatro Municipal to see this. Last time I’d been there I saw the most horrifying thing ever, the singers managed to kill one of my favorite operas and I grew rather resolute in never getting back there. I did skip a performance of Cavalleria Rusticana and another of Das Rheingold that I had tickets for just because I knew there was a very big chance that I would hate them. And also because those were after I came back from NYC and really nothing I have seen yet has matched or even come close to that experience. But I love Puccini and I had tickets for opening night so I thought I’d give the São Paulo Opera House another chance.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I actually really liked this production, I went alone, as always, and I had one of the best seats in the house, 9th row orchestra center, quite nice. When the curtain went up the whole audience went “OOOh!”, seriously, that’s exactly what happened. The stage was all covered with white paper and in the center we had some boring looking furniture all pilled up. As Marcello and Rodolfo sang they also organized the furniture and before you know it you have a flat in the middle of all that white paper. I found that even though it was rather different it worked marvelously well. The tenor playing Rodolfo was none other than the Brazilian who’s been singing all over Europe with Angela Gheorghiu, Atalla Ayan. He was just stellar, really fantastic! But for me the best of the night was the baritone playing Marcello. He really had it all, a fantastic, well projected and beautiful voice and refined acting skills. The other artists weren’t far behind and I did love this staging, the stage director had them hoping from one place to the other almost all the time and it gave the first act such incredible lightness as if they were really just chatting and happened to be singing. There was an easiness to their movements and interactions that was really quite nice to watch.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UghMZ1T4qA/UtAC1tPP4_I/AAAAAAAABcA/1YEfCq60ih0/s1600/a-opera-la-boheme-de-giacomo-puccini-encerra-a-temporada-lirica-de-2013-do-theatro-municipal-de-sao-paulo-a-montagem-estreia-na-terca-feira-10-de-dezembro-e-tem-apresentacoes-ate-depois-do-natal-1386625267568_956x500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UghMZ1T4qA/UtAC1tPP4_I/AAAAAAAABcA/1YEfCq60ih0/s1600/a-opera-la-boheme-de-giacomo-puccini-encerra-a-temporada-lirica-de-2013-do-theatro-municipal-de-sao-paulo-a-montagem-estreia-na-terca-feira-10-de-dezembro-e-tem-apresentacoes-ate-depois-do-natal-1386625267568_956x500.jpg" height="208" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But then came Mimi and at first when her music started playing I felt tears come to my eyes but not because of the singer but because I’m starting to learn this music so it really hits home. And since I’m getting far too familiar with this La Boheme score I almost couldn’t stand this lady playing Mimi. In my opinion her take on the character was almost all wrong, she wasn’t delicate or fragile at all. She was too energetic and bubbly singing “Si mi chiamano Mimi” as if telling a friend of all the fun things she has done which really didn’t work out for me. Plus she was doing something that THOROUGHLY irritated me which was imitating Angela Gheorghiu’s voice. Now, I’ve had my share of listening to Angela Gheorghiu specially in this particular role and I’m telling you this lady would imitate to the last </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">portamento</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">EVERYTHING Angela would do. She even sort of lost her voice in the middle of her first aria, I imagine because singing with a voice that isn’t yours isn’t really healthy, which resulted in her </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">forte</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">moments being transformed into </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">piano</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">which was really a shame. Even the ignorant ladies sitting next to me who knew nearly nothing about opera noticed there was something wrong. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Second act out on the streets was pure fun! The stage was over flowing with people and the choruses were wonderful! Again there was no scenery just various pieces of furniture and everyone was wearing tones of blues and grays. something else that bothered me was the fact that Mimi's hat wasn't pink, it was gray just like all the ladies on stage, boo for that. Again, the other lady of the production did not amuse me not even a drop bit. The lady playing Musetta was very pretty, very thin, blond with quite a nice body a petit body, what was missing was body of voice, that beef a singer must have to sing Puccini. She did not posses that, I’m not saying she was a bad singer, no, but she didn’t have enough size of voice or enough warmth of voice o even enough size for this role that is pure seduction. Her aria came out little and bland to me and after second act we had intermission and everybody seemed to be talking about the lack of Musetta qualities in that Musetta. It’s just sad that people are cast to play a role like this just because they are pretty.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">During intermission I didn’t even bother to get up, since 1 I was wearing very high heels and 2 I wasn’t meeting anybody anyways. Third act was up and it’s not one of my favorite moments in La Boheme, I find it’s all so mushy and melodramatic, Angela… oops I mean Mimi with the cough and Rodolfo being an ass. The only part I do like in this act is Musetta’s and Marcello’s argument, I find it quite funny. Maybe I’ll grow to like these things but for now, na.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9meoLUrWPFg/UtAC9eBeySI/AAAAAAAABcI/rWsY94QiVJ0/s1600/a-opera-la-boheme-de-giacomo-puccini-encerra-a-temporada-lirica-de-2013-do-theatro-municipal-de-sao-paulo-a-montagem-estreia-na-terca-feira-10-de-dezembro-e-tem-apresentacoes-ate-depois-do-natal-1386625284162_956x500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9meoLUrWPFg/UtAC9eBeySI/AAAAAAAABcI/rWsY94QiVJ0/s1600/a-opera-la-boheme-de-giacomo-puccini-encerra-a-temporada-lirica-de-2013-do-theatro-municipal-de-sao-paulo-a-montagem-estreia-na-terca-feira-10-de-dezembro-e-tem-apresentacoes-ate-depois-do-natal-1386625284162_956x500.jpg" height="208" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We had another short intermission after the third act and as the curtain came up for the last time I understood why. There was again another collective “WOW” from the audience as we saw the whole stage floor covered with neatly placed red roses. The effect was absolutely gorgeous! Really a work of art! The beginning of this act felt like the beginning of the opera with the 4 friends playing around and they did such a fantastic job! Musetta arrives and the mood completely changed, they bring Mimi up and lie her down. It was really very sad but the whole scene was directed very well, you could see that the director took very good care of this work. And quite unexpectedly when Mimi dies and Rodolfo holds her and screams the famous “MIMI!” red rose petals fall from the sky and I could not hold back my tears. It was very beautiful.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall I really liked this opera, I left the theater pleased.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Well, until next time peeps! Peace!</span></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-22689225342544262332013-12-16T15:30:00.000-05:002013-12-16T15:30:11.869-05:00The Rite of Spring on a Summer Night at the beach <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, yesterday was probably the coolest most unexpected way for me to close my musical year. When I started this blog, one of my first posts was about a traditional concert held at the beach every year with Brazil’s most prestigious orchestra, OSESP. They've made it their tradition to close their year's season here for the past 7 consecutive years, which is pretty cool. And yesterday it was about that time of year for another concert. I don’t know why, but it wasn’t until yesterday’s afternoon that I took a great big look at the sign of the concert and I almost had a freaking heart attack. MARIN ASLOP was conducting, and I could hear the orchestra rehearse and all I could think of was <em>“Holy mother of God, Marin Aslop is in front of my house”</em>. Insane.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HyqDPnWSOw/Uq9dlYtyezI/AAAAAAAABZk/K5tXzIYjlhY/s1600/IMG_20131215_165813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HyqDPnWSOw/Uq9dlYtyezI/AAAAAAAABZk/K5tXzIYjlhY/s1600/IMG_20131215_165813.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I went to the concert with my mum, as usual, and the beach was insanely packed. I read online that there were about 25 thousand people there, and I believe it because it was really very crammed. People had brought their beach chairs, some sat on the sand but most people stood. What I thought was kind of stupid was the fact that right in front of the stage there were about 100 chairs for VIP people and around those chairs the area was absolutely empty and then everybody had to stand behind a “barricade”. I thought that was SO STUPID. Specially because the people on this VIP area were the closest to the stage and had the nerve to chat like they were in a cocktail during the concert. But that’s just how my shitty country works, I’m not even gonna go there. You guys can see it for yourselves...&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YtNlBnZkEAQ/Uq9eCzlP_XI/AAAAAAAABZs/gwDubKDOpYE/s1600/1508192_569728816434798_1755719964_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YtNlBnZkEAQ/Uq9eCzlP_XI/AAAAAAAABZs/gwDubKDOpYE/s1600/1508192_569728816434798_1755719964_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The concert itself was so incredible. I was so thrilled to see Marin in the flesh conducting! I have been a big fan of hers ever since that incredible Last Night at The Proms. But seeing her conduct for the very first time at the beach where I grew up and have gone time and time again for my entire life was really the cherry on the top of a fantastic year!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After some introductions Marin hit the stage and they played Beethoven’s 5th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Symphony, the first, third and fourth movements. It’s just electrifying to hear that symphony alone but the whole context made it even more special. It was a very informal kind of concert, since the orchestra was facing the setting Sun I could see some musicians sporting sunglasses (how often does that happen?) and they were all in very light colors, like a light kaki and white. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vrsw5cs_Khg/Uq9hE2Rxt8I/AAAAAAAABZ4/GBRqdK1JSIc/s1600/IMG_20131215_193410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vrsw5cs_Khg/Uq9hE2Rxt8I/AAAAAAAABZ4/GBRqdK1JSIc/s1600/IMG_20131215_193410.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKGD3BtoC2c/Uq9hOyMACII/AAAAAAAABaA/8TX2xdXIpvY/s1600/IMG_20131215_194046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKGD3BtoC2c/Uq9hOyMACII/AAAAAAAABaA/8TX2xdXIpvY/s1600/IMG_20131215_194046.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WOzarLuJ3Pw/Uq9hYeP9umI/AAAAAAAABaI/AZNDCQa5ENE/s1600/IMG_20131215_194127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WOzarLuJ3Pw/Uq9hYeP9umI/AAAAAAAABaI/AZNDCQa5ENE/s1600/IMG_20131215_194127.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that I know much about Beethoven to expand thoroughly in their playing. But I thought it was real good, very consistent and strong. Those guys know what they are doing. It’s interesting to notice how different this orchestra sounds from the Met’s Orchestra for instance (because I saw them play the 7th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> symphony back in October) and I’m not pointing fingers and saying this one is better than that one. Just saying it’s so ridiculously different. Why of course it is and that was even more explicitly obvious when they played their second piece of the day, The Rite of Spring.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know it might sound suicidal but I prefer the Rite of Spring to that 5th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Symphony, that’s just my personal taste. Maybe it’s because I know more about this particular piece than Beethoven’s symphony. I have never been much of a symphonic person, I like vocal music too much and most importantly, I like stuff that comes with a story. I feel like I can relate much, much better to the piece if there’s a story behind it, that’s why I liked studying Symphonic Poems&nbsp;</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">so much</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (no idea if I translated it right) back in college.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zyLvozI0uj8/Uq9hiOEYVpI/AAAAAAAABaQ/cgLzYz8VN34/s1600/IMG_20131215_194144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zyLvozI0uj8/Uq9hiOEYVpI/AAAAAAAABaQ/cgLzYz8VN34/s1600/IMG_20131215_194144.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eo28YhGlSr0/Uq9hsF_RO_I/AAAAAAAABaY/9ofIm6vHG0w/s1600/IMG_20131215_195232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eo28YhGlSr0/Uq9hsF_RO_I/AAAAAAAABaY/9ofIm6vHG0w/s1600/IMG_20131215_195232.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guy introducing did a horrible job. Not only did he not tell the story of the piece nor the historic context but he did describe the music as “ALIEN”. ALIEN? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He said that this music will sound “alien” to our ears. Who does he think he’s talking to? A bunch of people from the Middle Ages? This is not Schoenberg or Berg, come on, you offend my people by saying that. You offend me at least.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But just before they started it there was an ANNOYING dog barking like crazy and Marin just turned to the direction the sound was coming from and people started booing and screaming at the dog. It was quite funny, I screamed too, FUN! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5RSP7yVbkM/Uq9h--Wd12I/AAAAAAAABag/mUwl_mnPx5w/s1600/IMG_20131215_195601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5RSP7yVbkM/Uq9h--Wd12I/AAAAAAAABag/mUwl_mnPx5w/s1600/IMG_20131215_195601.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfbcJaEhcG4/Uq9iC1iW6GI/AAAAAAAABao/8uSKJwlmFR4/s1600/IMG_20131215_201400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfbcJaEhcG4/Uq9iC1iW6GI/AAAAAAAABao/8uSKJwlmFR4/s1600/IMG_20131215_201400.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a0GvczfAI80/Uq9iE6EtHfI/AAAAAAAABaw/z6JJODuI7Xk/s1600/IMG_20131215_201406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a0GvczfAI80/Uq9iE6EtHfI/AAAAAAAABaw/z6JJODuI7Xk/s1600/IMG_20131215_201406.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I felt so grateful for most of the concert. Like </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’m so blessed to be here, to be able to hear this in the city where I grew up, with one of the most incredible conductors of this century on the year of The Rite of Spring’s 100th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;birthday”</span></span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. And the presenter did say something quite right, I don’t think that this particular piece was ever played in such circumstances, to an opened public in a Brazilian beach on a delicious Summer December evening. The evening was actually quite perfect, the sunset was GORGEOUS and it gave the concert a magical background of all sorts of blues and some reds coming from the setting Sun. The pictures I took were the best my phone's camera could do.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But down to the Rite itself it was real nice. It’s so interesting to see how different kinds of people conduct the same music in completely different ways. I mean, I saw Valery Gergiev conduct this just last October and his take on it could not be more different from Marin’s. I love to watch her conduct, she quite literally jumps on that podium, over and over again. You can just feel all the excitement emanate from her and how her body responded to all those crazy rhythms, she would sometimes move on their impossible pacings. I loved it! I actually made video to show how many people were there just as the first part ended.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And alien or not, I think that the music managed to touch everybody. I would look around and see people’s expressions, it was a mixture of shock, eagerness and happiness. They were glued to that unusual music, especially after hearing the most “best hits” of symphonic music. When the piece ended the audience roared with cheers and applause. Marin did two calls and they left and so did the 50 million people on that beach. There were a lot of people there.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall it was incredible and part of me was so eager to just stand at the “artist exit” to talk to Marin but then I thought it was better not to. Anyways, my friends arrived a little bit after the concert ended and we went to drink coconut water and chat about last night’s party. But I was secretly hoping Marin would decide to get some coconut water for herself. But she didn’t haha </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well guys, that’s it for now. I’m now at my parent’s house in Santos until the end of the year waiting eagerly for the colleges to reply my applications! I’m already working on some other pieces to post later this week so stay tuned! Peace everyone!</span></span></span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-77571226056055250032013-12-11T21:34:00.004-05:002013-12-11T21:34:48.100-05:00A Love Letter to NYC <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello people! Are you annoyed by my alomst daily posts yet? I do hope not! This is gonna be a quick post so don't worry. I just wanted to let you guys know that my grades came out and I freaking did it! I passed which means I now have an official bachelor's degree! JOY TO THE WORLD! I can breathe again! And I also just sent out my three applications to Grad Schools in the US.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But wait, wasn't I applying to 4 schools? Well, yeah, the thing is all of them require audio files of you singing, all of them except MSM that requires a video. I had major problems with the video thing and when I finally got to record the video it was like a billion degrees (because November in Brazil equals hellish temperatures) and I wasn’t singing to my singing teacher’s playing. I didn’t really feel it with the pianist and don’t think I did my best, plus she missed notes, didn’t breath with me and made me altogether uncomfortable and nervous. So I decided not to apply to MSM since the deadline was December first and I didn’t want to send them a so-so video of me sweating through my repertoire.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why am I saying this? Well because the essay MSM asks is the following: If you were given a blank airplane ticket to go wherever you wanted, where would you go? </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now this nagged me through and through because the only place on earth I could think of was NYC and it’s ridiculous since MSM IS in NYC. But following my good friends’ advice I wrote about what I loved from the heart and since I’m not sending the application I might as well publish my love letter to NYC </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">somewhere</span></span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, right?</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Were I handed a blank ticket at this very minute, where would I go? I can’t help but think of any place but New York City. I know it sounds very ‘been there done that’ but I’ve always felt a very special connection to NYC. I’ve been there twice before and I must admit I never felt so much like I belonged anywhere else. I love how walking down the street I can see all kinds of people from all over the world, all sorts of different languages popping out in every corner. The city has an infinite number of completely different things to offer and every hour that I spend in that city I feel I’m learning and experiencing something new. I can’t help but think of NYC as a huge opera house.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That’s probably why I love it so much. You have many languages going on constantly and as many sorts of different types of people as you have different kinds of opera, modern, romantic, classical… </span></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something I adore in New York City is the people in it. Every single person I’ve met in the city has a special something about them. It’s like a special spice that everyone who lives there possesses and it comes out in the most amazing ways. From talking to restaurant waitresses who speak 4 different languages to extremely lovely old ladies who have worked as extras at the Met just for fun, I found a place where my words and ideas were finally understood. A place where being different is normal and I felt I could finally be myself and stop apologizing for having such a different taste for things.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think that the first thing I’d do when I got there is definitely go to the Metropolitan Opera to see about everything I can watch: performances and the opera guild talks and such. And I can say that if I were to spend a short period of time in the city, I would gladly go watch something at the Metropolitan Opera every night. After all it was thanks to their Live in HD program that I was able to see opera in a light I’d never seen it before and fall hopelessly in love with it, so that opera house in particular holds a very dear place in my heart.</span></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But one thing I’ve always wanted to do and never could is explore the city fearlessly and with no rush. To walk through the streets of Little Italy and be able to go to their fantastic Italian festivals which have a ridiculous abundance in fantastic food and good mood. I’d like to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art several times so I can take my time looking at each work of art. Because even though I already feel incredible about seeing a Monet painting in the flesh I would have liked to have taken my time admiring it as opposed to having to tear my eyes off the canvas to look at my watch every five minutes. But I feel the thing I most want to do in NYC is have an everyday life and with time discover little by little what the city has to offer.</span></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cannot say how long I’d stay, I feel if I had the chance I’d never leave, at least not for a good five years. But if I had to spend a shorter period of time there, and I was able to call the shots, which I never am, I would stay at least a month. Then I think I’d be able to accomplish a little bit of what I desire to do in this amazing and embracing city.”</span></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c7yjFQy2si0/UqkgbwfLvvI/AAAAAAAABZU/UgHftCDaM2w/s1600/IMG_20131011_140214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c7yjFQy2si0/UqkgbwfLvvI/AAAAAAAABZU/UgHftCDaM2w/s400/IMG_20131011_140214.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em>that's me in Central park and no, I wasn't planning on sending the picture attached to this</em></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cute, right? Never-ending thanks to Kim who edited it and corrected my grammar mistakes!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-22533023254859982222013-12-10T13:49:00.001-05:002013-12-10T13:49:27.402-05:00Best Recordings and Books of 2013<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I’ve decided to continue the “best of 2013” lists, so here are the best CDs and books that I have acquired in 2013. Mind you, these were not all out in 2013, some of them are as old as 10, 15 years, but I bought them this year so there you go! I’m also organizing these in alphabetical order because I can’t choose which one is best. I’m also going to give the places and prices I paid should anybody be interested in getting any of them.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best CDs</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Angela Gheorghiu – <i>My Puccini </i>(2008)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rM0ggwoBLDg/UqdSnMKFQHI/AAAAAAAABXQ/_wJkIyeD4N4/s1600/2937869032_3da33e1b23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rM0ggwoBLDg/UqdSnMKFQHI/AAAAAAAABXQ/_wJkIyeD4N4/s200/2937869032_3da33e1b23.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I got this CD in my last trip to NYC at the Met shop for about $20, but it’s not on the website so here’s the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Puccini-Angela-Gheorghiu/dp/B001E1YVU4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386683461&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=angela+gheorghiu" target="_blank">Amazon link</a>. I love Puccini with every fiber of my being and I think Angela does a great job in this Verismo repertoire. This is a two disc set, the first disc is a CD with some of Angela’s Puccini signature roles like Mimi (La Boheme) and Magda (La Rondine), as well as Angelica (Suor Angelica), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Manon (Manon Lescaut) and Tosca (Tosca, duh!). The second disc is actually a DVD of clips of her singing and her reflections about Puccini. The tenor in this CD is Roberto Alagna which at the time was fine but now I find kind of odd. My favorite tracks in this are Magda’s part, specially the two arias and the end duet which is absolutely heartbreaking. I also liked her “Mario, Mario!”, it’s sweet and it sounds like they are having a wonderful time singing this piece.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="IT"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dmitri Hvorostovsky &amp; Sondra Radvanovsky – <i>Verdi Opera Scenes</i> (2009)<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBrQwgSHKng/UqdVZZSBDBI/AAAAAAAABXc/xwX2VOlCFmw/s1600/verdioperascenes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBrQwgSHKng/UqdVZZSBDBI/AAAAAAAABXc/xwX2VOlCFmw/s400/verdioperascenes.png" width="392" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This one I also got in my last trip to NYC at the <a href="http://www.metoperashop.org/shop/dmitri-hvorostovsky-sondra-radvanovsky-verdi-opera-scenes-cd-4589" target="_blank">MetShop</a> ($19) plus this one is totally autographed by none other than Sondra Radvanovsky. These tracks were taken from a live concert they did together in The Great Hall of Moscow with conductor Constantine Orbelian. Now I’ve listened to this CD from back to back about a billion times I love absolutely everything in this CD. First it’s Verdi Opera Scenes with two of the BEST Verdian singers in the world. You have that GREAT scene of the beginning of act 3 of Un Ballo in Maschera, Amelia’s desperate plea “Morró, ma prima in grazia” followed by Renato’s “Eri tu” that is also so incredible, and it’s fun to hear the audience roar like CRAZY while clapping. Another scene that just drives me over the edge is the Confrontation Scene from Il Trovatore. HOLY. MOTHER. OF. GOD. They just ROCK this scene like no other! This is probably one of my favorite parts of this opera. Plus there are some neat solos like “Song to the Moon” from Dvorak’s Rusalka, “Deh vieni alla finestra” (PLEASE COME TO MY WINDOW!) from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s Tosca. It’s a great CD, buy it! And fun-fact, the trousers Dima is wearing in the cover are actually Sondra's, it does not get any cooler than that! Just for you guys to get a little taste of that Trovatore scene, here it is!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/81z1YzH_994/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/81z1YzH_994&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/81z1YzH_994&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonas Kaufmann – <i>Romantic Arias</i> (2008)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFUHwDymGfI/UqdWah-eNrI/AAAAAAAABXk/yEWsYtWH1sM/s1600/cover_romantic_arias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFUHwDymGfI/UqdWah-eNrI/AAAAAAAABXk/yEWsYtWH1sM/s200/cover_romantic_arias.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is yet another one I got in my last trip to NYC and also got it at the <a href="http://www.metoperashop.org/shop/jonas-kaufmann-romantic-arias-cd-8589" target="_blank">Met Shop</a> for $17. Jonas has to be one of my favorite tenors and in this recording in particular he’s sounding quite dreamy. With the use of the most varied repertoire that ranges from Wagner to Massenet and from Gounod to Verdi and from Puccini to Berlioz he sings all those songs that makes us sigh for the tenor. His brilliant rendition of Carmen’s “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée” is golden and his Werther is so passionate and heartbroken. Just as well as his De Griex from Massenet’s Manon, the hero blinded by love and his Cavaradissi from Puccini’s Tosca with his last words of love to his beloved. He makes you basically want to put him in a bag and take him home. And I think this is such a great recording because it has such a varied repertoire and you get a little taste of everything that Jonas does, which is great!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joyce DiDonato – <i>Drama Queens</i> (2012)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcKDrqLq7Lw/UqdW_RwY69I/AAAAAAAABXs/nBEeAqU7L3M/s1600/dramaqueens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcKDrqLq7Lw/UqdW_RwY69I/AAAAAAAABXs/nBEeAqU7L3M/s320/dramaqueens.png" width="316" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I bought this CD on </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Queens-Joyce-DiDonato/dp/B008R9QB18/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386685362&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=drama+queens+cd" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Amazon </a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">in February for about $16 (but now it’s $21) and it is also super signed! (all my Jdiddy CDs are signed) This is probably my favorite CD by Joyce DiDonato because I love every single aria in it and almost know all of them by heart (and that’s saying something when it comes to baroque repertoire). This CD is basically all baroque queen arias (which I thought was such a great idea!) with Alan Curtis conducting and Il Compresso Barocco accompanying. I wish I could have seen one of the concerts she did with Il Compresso Barocco with this repertoire, I have some friends who did go and said it was beyond incredible. If I have to choose some favorites in this recording they would have to be “Madre diletta, abbracciami” by Porta, “Lasciami piangere” by Keiser, “Da torbida procella” by Orlandini and “Mort ecol fiero aspetto” by Hasse.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joyce DiDonato – <i>ReJoyce – The best of Joyce DiDonato</i> (2013)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8nGMGQQpBU/UqdXr1OryrI/AAAAAAAABX4/N2mCZ6-tujM/s1600/rejoyce.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8nGMGQQpBU/UqdXr1OryrI/AAAAAAAABX4/N2mCZ6-tujM/s400/rejoyce.png" width="392" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I couldn’t possibly leave this one out. This was the very first CD I bought at the </span><a href="http://www.metoperashop.org/shop/rejoyce-the-best-of-joyce-didonato-2-cd-11575" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Met Store</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> last October and it was about $19. As the name explains this is the best of the last 10 years of Joyce’s recordings but it’s so much more than that since Joyce let her dear fans choose most of the things about this CD. The title, the tracks, the cover picture was taken during a concert by a friend of mine, and also she filled the booklet with pictures of her fans (including me and some of my friends) and also quotes from fans (including mine), so it’s a real special thing and I’m so honored to be part of it. But on to the CD itself, this one is also a two disc set, first CD filled with mainly baroque repertoire (most of my suggestions made the cut!) and also some Mozart. Some of my favorites are “Crude furie degl’ orridi abissi” “Where shall I fly” “Scherza infida” by Handel and “Voi che sapette” by Mozart. The second CD is filled with belcanto specially Rossini and also some contemporary work she’s done. My highlights would be “Una voce poco fa” “Tanti affetti in tal momento” by Rossini, Strauss’ “Seien wir wieder gut!”, Jake Heggie’s “He will gather us around” and of course “Over the Rainbow”.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olga Borodina &amp; Dmitri Hvorostovsky – <i>Arias/Duets</i> (1997)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKTcLX6DJFQ/UqdYRBVofqI/AAAAAAAABYA/xMrMUOyQUv0/s1600/51f9ZXXxyGL._SY300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKTcLX6DJFQ/UqdYRBVofqI/AAAAAAAABYA/xMrMUOyQUv0/s200/51f9ZXXxyGL._SY300_.jpg" width="196" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This one was a difficult one to get, I got it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000006P4K/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>&nbsp;from a random person for $7 but now they apparently have one left in store. I love these collaboration between singers CDs, they turn out so great and fun because you don’t get only one voice all the time but two alternating. I adore these two Russian jewels that are called Dmitri Hvostovsky and Olga Borodina and I think their voices sound incredible together. Both have that Slavic depth and darkness (not too much but some) that I absolutely ADORE. <span lang="IT">This is a fun recording with my favorite parts being the Il Barbieri di Siviglia exerpts that include “Una voce poco fa” “Largo al factotum” and “Dunque io son… Tu non m’inganni”. </span>I also love it that they get to sing in Russian as well in this CD, the excerpts from Tsar’s Bride couldn’t be more beautiful. And finally to close the CD wonderfully they sing the act 2 duet from Saint-Saens Samson et Dalila “J’ai gravi la montagne”</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Renée Fleming – <i>Strauss Four Last Songs / Signature Roles at the Met Opera</i> (2008)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-5aY19FbJc/UqdZZ9T_lRI/AAAAAAAABYM/NSqD_0ZzoBA/s1600/51j7e2fGmiL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-5aY19FbJc/UqdZZ9T_lRI/AAAAAAAABYM/NSqD_0ZzoBA/s200/51j7e2fGmiL.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I got this CD on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D27GKQ/ref=oh_details_o06_s01_i04?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1" target="_blank">Amazon </a>for $12, great deal, specially because this is a double CD set! This is like all the best from Renée Fleming, she’s so amazing in the repertoire she chose for these CDs. First all Strauss bliss starting out with the Four Last Songs that are hands down one of the most beautiful things I ever heard followed by selections from Ariadne auf Naxos and Die ägypische Helena. And then we have the 5 things I mostly love Renée in. First the letter scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin that I think she gets so fantastically well and her characterization of Tatyana is probably my favorite! Then we have her signature aria from Dvorak’s Rusalka “Song to the Moon”, fun fact about this aria in particular, the first time I heard Renée sing it was when I saw her concert live, yeah, PRETTY COOL. Then we have her heartfelt rendition of the “Willow Song” and Ave Maria from Verdi’s Otello and the mirror aria from Massenet’s Thäis. And to close we have the last scene from Strauss’ last opera Capriccio. This is a wonderful recording to have!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sarah Connolly – <i>Heroes and Heroines – Handel</i> (2004)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-juVQXwIsH9Q/UqdaeuWGIvI/AAAAAAAABYU/9sTqoBYf4Zg/s1600/cor16025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-juVQXwIsH9Q/UqdaeuWGIvI/AAAAAAAABYU/9sTqoBYf4Zg/s200/cor16025.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This one I also got on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00030ERP6/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i07?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1" target="_blank">Amazon </a>for $17. Mezzos are awesome, they get such great ideas for different kinds of CDs! This one is awesome, Sarah Connolly is famous for her baroque repertoire and even more for her incredible performances in pants roles. So I guess this was what inspired Joyce’s Diva/Divo. In this CD Sarah sings Handel ladies and lords. She sings a lot of Ruggiero (Alcina) my personal favorite is, of course, “Verdi prati” and also the hero Ariodante, my favorite piece is obviously “Dopo notte”. She also sings Dejanira which is one of my favorite opera characters, she’s so insane! Her “Where Shall I fly?” is priceless and incredible! Plus this cover couldn't be more awesome, her lady self looking at her lord reflection!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sondra Radvanovsky – <i>Verdi Arias</i> (2010)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a9Og6e_HTEQ/UqdavfzIBkI/AAAAAAAABYc/IFP3sun_AyM/s1600/verdiarias.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a9Og6e_HTEQ/UqdavfzIBkI/AAAAAAAABYc/IFP3sun_AyM/s400/verdiarias.png" width="391" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I also got this CD at </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Arias-Sondra-Radvanovsky/dp/B0039ZCHPY/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386690066&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=sondra+radvanovsky" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Amazon </a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">for about $16. This is another one of those CDs that I listen back to back a billion times. Because A- Verdi is awesome and B- for me, there is nobody who can do more justice to these pieces than Sondra. Her voice was made to sing this repertoire so there is really no weak track in this CD. I love all of these arias but if I had to choose the ones I listen to more often I would have to say Il Trovatore’s “Tacea la notte”, Un Ballo in Maschera’s “Ecco l’orrido campo… </span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa”, La Forza del destino “Pace, pace, mio Dio”, Ernani’s “Ernani, Ernani involami”, Aida’s “O patria mia” and Il Vespri Siciliani’s “Bolero”. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Basically all of them, seriously, I left like, 3 songs out of that list. The coolest thing is that I got to tell Sondra how much I loved this recording and she was so thrilled, she even drew a little heart in her autograph. It was awesome.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best Books</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m listing here first my favorite opera related books of the year with the long notes I always make and after some other books I read this year that I also liked. Everything in alphabetical order.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EaaIW0Xzxrw/Uc5D41Y6xMI/AAAAAAAAA5I/o3StegVKX-w/s1600/9788527307925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EaaIW0Xzxrw/Uc5D41Y6xMI/AAAAAAAAA5I/o3StegVKX-w/s200/9788527307925.jpg" width="138" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>As Óperas de Richard Strauss</i> (The Operas of Richard Strauss) – Lauro Machado Coelho (2007)</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This book is actually by a Brazilian writer and it’s only available in Brazil and I’m pretty sure I bought one of their last copies back in July. This book is part of a great (and expensive) collection that talks about all kinds of operas, Baroque, Romantic Italian, French, Wagner Opera so on. And this in particular speaks only of Richard Strauss and it’s such a wonderful guideline to travel through Strauss’ operas and also to understand his compositional methods. The writing is filled with knowledge but it’s not stuck up and quite a pleasant read.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="PT-BR"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjrq-GKEbxw/UqdcDUFKOPI/AAAAAAAABYo/NsY8ZoZZ9v4/s1600/Capa_Contos_de_Operas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjrq-GKEbxw/UqdcDUFKOPI/AAAAAAAABYo/NsY8ZoZZ9v4/s200/Capa_Contos_de_Operas.jpg" width="140" /></a><span lang="PT-BR"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Contos de Óperas e Cantos</i> (Stories of Operas and Singing) – Sergio Casoy (2009)<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another Brazilian author, I’ve had the great pleasure to actually watch two talks he did about voice types. He’s an opera history professor and an opera critic. This book is so delicious to read and I actually read it in various ends of afternoons at the beach. It’s a compilation of texts Sergio Casoy wrote for opera programs here in Brazil over the years. They usually tell a little bit of the story of the opera but also of the back story in the making of these operas which are always super cool and sometimes funny. How did Verdi decide he would write Otello? How long did Donizetti take to write L’elisir d’amore? Plus, this book is dedicated to my vocal coach! How cool is that? </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Diary of a Redneck Opera Zinger</i> – Jay Hunter Morris (2013)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YHOeDEQF498/UqdczEH-LcI/AAAAAAAABYw/uGK2XUxWWLU/s1600/Diary_Redneck.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YHOeDEQF498/UqdczEH-LcI/AAAAAAAABYw/uGK2XUxWWLU/s200/Diary_Redneck.png" width="123" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I got this on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Redneck-Zinger-Hunter-Morris/dp/0615793878/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386699938&amp;sr=1-1-catcorr&amp;keywords=Diary+of+a+Redneck+Opera+Zinger" target="_blank">Amazon</a> but you can also get it at the Met Store. The funniest opera book I’ve ever read! This book is like a compilation of the best emails he’s sent to his family and friends while pursuing the career of an opera singer. Jay is such a sincere writer and his take on situations are absolutely hilarious. There are all sorts of words written the way a Texan would say them which really adds to the reading because you imagine a Texan with a real strong accent narrating these situations to you. Like the time a crazy lady asked him to keep in his freezer a dead frozen dog sized bird. Or the time when he ripped his pants right in the butt area in the middle of the last scene of a concert version of Carmen and the audience roared with laughed. Or the time when he saw some people slip in orange vomit just out of stage door. Or when he finally got his big break as Siegfried only 2 years ago at the Met. This book is GOLDEN!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The Inner Voice – the making of an opera singer </i>– Renée Fleming</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLbWNuA3YPY/UqddkgVM-HI/AAAAAAAABY8/mCKiO5swIwg/s1600/103488886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLbWNuA3YPY/UqddkgVM-HI/AAAAAAAABY8/mCKiO5swIwg/s200/103488886.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I got it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Voice-Making-Singer/dp/0143035940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386700210&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+inner+voice+by+renee+fleming" target="_blank">Amazon </a>in the beginning of the year for about $16. This is the best opera singer guidance book I’ve ever read. I love it! I think I read it 3 times already and would gladly read it again, I’ve underlined and copied my favorite passages. I’m actually quite self conscious about asking Renée to sign it because it’s kind of worn out! I translated the introduction to Portuguese for my repertoire teacher to give to her students but those people are so clueless they barely read it. There was ONE (out of twenty people who say they want to be opera singers) girl who asked me if I could lend her the book and I did and she loved it, most of the others don’t even know who Renée Fleming is which is both sad and utterly unacceptable. But on to the book, Renée tells the story of her voice and about all her difficulties and insecurities growing up to become the absolute success that she is. This book is a MUST for anybody who wants to pursue a career in singing classical music, specially opera, it’s so great!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>True Tales from the mad, mad, mad world of Opera</i> – Lotfi Mansouri</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0gjgo-_ldg/Uqded3ShuRI/AAAAAAAABZE/wmEdJym_3HU/s1600/Lotfi-Mansouri_2682833b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0gjgo-_ldg/Uqded3ShuRI/AAAAAAAABZE/wmEdJym_3HU/s400/Lotfi-Mansouri_2682833b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This isn't the cover of the book, although I would totally buy a book with this cover, but the thing is, Lofti wrote such a beautiful message to Joan Sutherland right at the very end of this book that drove me to tears so I though I'd be nice to have a pic of them together here</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I also bought this book on </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1459705157/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Amazon </a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">for $15. First of all, the foreword is by Carol Burnett, I mean, come on! How cool is that? These are the memories of stage director Lofti Mansouri, of all the absolutely insane things he’s been through in this truly crazy business. Plus he worked with big legends of opera like Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Renata Scotto, Maria Callas, Jesse Norman and many, many others. This book is the literally proof that we do this out of love, because there is no money that can pay being put through the situations Lofti was. Like having a patron from an opera house tell him that a certain young soprano had to play the role of the Duchess in La Fille du Regiment. Or have a Russian mezzo sing a role she barely even learned in an English version of Der Fledermaus, ah, and the singer didn’t speak English, like at all. It’s funny now, but it must have been hell back then! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Other titles that I read this year I thoroughly enjoyed that have absolutely nothing to do with opera are:</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Full-Rye-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/0062073656/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386700966&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=A+Pocket+Full+of+Rye" target="_blank">A Pocket Full of Rye</a></i> (Agatha Christie)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – Miss Marple’s case of various murders happening in the same house, you gotta love that old bird watcher!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Curtain-Poirots-Hercule-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/0062074091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386700995&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Curtain" target="_blank">Curtain</a></i> (Agatha Christie)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – Poirot’s last case, it’s just freaking GENIUS! And I was so glad I got to read it before the episode came out!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Nile-Hercule-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/0062073559/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386701048&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Death+on+the+Nile" target="_blank">Death on the Nile</a> </i>(Agatha Christie)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – ok, you noticed I love Agatha Christie novels, this is particularly amazing and with always such a surprising ending!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eugene-Onegin-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199538646/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386701078&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Eugene+Onegin" target="_blank">Eugene Onegin</a></i> (Alexander Pushkin)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – This is sort of opera related since it was because of the opera that I bought it. It’s such a wonderful work of art and even though it’s an English translation it captures some of the amazing essence of Pushkin’s words. Plus it’s written like poetry but it has a very narration feel to it.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Four-Hercule-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/0062073877/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386701105&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=The+Big+Four" target="_blank">The Big Four</a></i> (Agatha Christie)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – another master piece of mystery featuring my dear Poirot</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-Hades-Heroes-Olympus-Book/dp/1423146727/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386701138&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=The+House+of+Hades" target="_blank">The House of Hades</a></i> (Rick Riordan)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> – Book 4 from the Heroes of Olympus Series which I absolutely love! It’s fun, easy to read and I read all the 600 pages in exactly 5 days.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The links for these last books are all from Amazon because if you live in the US the best deal is always to get it from Amazon! Well, I guess that's it! I might come up with another crazy list idea until the end of the week, I actually already have, so stay tuned. I'm watching La Boheme here in São Paulo tonight and I do hope I'm not enraged by what I see, my last experience in that theater was horrid to say the least. Ah well, my grade hasn't come out yet, so I'm suffering, so I appreciate any positive energy heading my way! Peace everyone!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881539215077596507.post-51723554458244527622013-12-09T19:29:00.000-05:002013-12-09T20:38:19.529-05:00The best of my musical 2013<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The end of the year is near! And so I thought it would be fun to do some “best of 2013” lists! I might do this in more than one post, depending on the amount of stuff I write.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best Operas</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It’s in alphabetical order because I really don’t wanna choose which I liked best than the other, so those are the highlights of the year of operas I’ve seen live in 2013</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="PT-BR">Aida</span></i><span lang="PT-BR"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Theatro Municipal de Sao Paulo)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT-BR"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ETfvNDCya9k/UhwfpvJXA0I/AAAAAAAAA9c/i_cizeQZ9PY/s1600/Aida_foto_Sylvia_Masini-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ETfvNDCya9k/UhwfpvJXA0I/AAAAAAAAA9c/i_cizeQZ9PY/s400/Aida_foto_Sylvia_Masini-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT-BR"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This was my first time seeing Aida and it was really love at first sight! The music is just so incredible, the chorus parts are exhilarating and the solos, duets and trios just swept me off my feet! The staging was simple but dignified and Radames and Amneris were particularly wonderful. I saw this production of Aida twice at the Theatro Municipal in the city where I live, Sao Paulo, it was my very first time going there.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Eugene Onegin</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (Metropolitan Opera)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3CchQIL2HCg/Ul3tGir948I/AAAAAAAABFg/5BPxdfObDc4/s1600/7d3581fb04d539a6e5cb3e94d4077d6c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3CchQIL2HCg/Ul3tGir948I/AAAAAAAABFg/5BPxdfObDc4/s400/7d3581fb04d539a6e5cb3e94d4077d6c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I felt so privileged to be able to see this opera live not only once but twice! Before I even saw this production I already loved this opera thoroughly. And then having such a stellar cast under the musical direction of none other than Valery Gergiev was just an absolute delight. The staging was beautiful and the interpretation of the characters was slightly different but it worked incredibly well for that particular set of performers.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>La Cenerentola</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (Theatro Sao Pedro)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QoIFfN9U-14/UVEotc7aRKI/AAAAAAAAAhY/YubvLigZiu8/s1600/IMG_20130313_211857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QoIFfN9U-14/UVEotc7aRKI/AAAAAAAAAhY/YubvLigZiu8/s400/IMG_20130313_211857.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This opera I also saw more than once, if you have been reading this blog for a while you will know that I actually watched some rehearsals of this opera. The cast was adorable, the staging slightly bleh but the performers totally made up for it! Special spotlight for the ladies who played the evil step sisters who are sisters in real life and totally stole the show!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Norma</i> (Metropolitan Opera)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9NIANxhkMH8/UqZcEbu1qgI/AAAAAAAABWs/hbcmTbV5N3Y/s1600/critics131007_lagrima_560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9NIANxhkMH8/UqZcEbu1qgI/AAAAAAAABWs/hbcmTbV5N3Y/s400/critics131007_lagrima_560.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I had never seen this opera and let me tell you, even though the staging was as dull as it gets, I loved it! It was my first night at the Met and I was alone and it couldn’t have been more perfect! I remember my eyes filling up with tears seeing Sondra come out for the first time and feel the tears roll down my cheeks when she started singing. Again, I saw this opera twice when I was there and feel so fortunate!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best Concerts </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Again in alphabetical order because they were all such different kinds of concerts and I really can’t choose, each had a very different kind of special meaning</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Annick Massis Concert</i>(Theatro Sao Pedro)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEWRfupeh9g/Ug_KuThikiI/AAAAAAAAA8g/gRM8v0zk6WU/s1600/IMG_20130816_214919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEWRfupeh9g/Ug_KuThikiI/AAAAAAAAA8g/gRM8v0zk6WU/s400/IMG_20130816_214919.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Two incredible nights. Annick is such a fine artist and with such an impressive repertoire. I remember that in her very last encore I nearly cried at her rendition of “Chi bel sogno di Doretta”. And also her reading of Papa Germont’s letter and “Addio a del passato” was heart breaking and inspired. I was SO lucky to sit in the front row for this concert in both days!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Maryinsky Theater Orchestra plays Stravinsky</i>&nbsp;led by Valery Gergiev (Carnegie Hall)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HKOE8zXQJWM/UqZdXpJRfPI/AAAAAAAABW4/YMzphgObIpQ/s1600/12GERGIEVjp-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HKOE8zXQJWM/UqZdXpJRfPI/AAAAAAAABW4/YMzphgObIpQ/s400/12GERGIEVjp-articleLarge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m such a grateful person to have seen this! I guess that’s why I wanna live in NYC, I mean, come on! I stayed there 10 days and was able to watch so many top notch musical performances, like with the absolute best in DA WORLD! Ah well, this concert was incredible. I mean, it’s not every day that I get to see an entire all Russian orchestra play Stravinsky. I was particularly moved when they played “The Rite of Spring” because my history teacher back in college dedicated quite a lot of time to this piece in particular. So to be able to see an orchestra like that play it was something I will never forget! Plus this concert was on the very DAY of Verdi’s 200</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">th</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;anniversary so as a present to the audience maestro Gergiev led the overture of La Forza del Destino that was composed for the Maryinsky theater! By the end I was in tears, tears, tears!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Joyce DiDonato led by James Levine</i> (Carnegie Hall)</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mNrR0pGKXXU/UqZd3CHqQmI/AAAAAAAABXA/tL2pnXDd9Yc/s1600/1374339_10151763820416319_368417474_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mNrR0pGKXXU/UqZd3CHqQmI/AAAAAAAABXA/tL2pnXDd9Yc/s400/1374339_10151763820416319_368417474_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This was one of those things that is on one’s bucket list, again I felt very blessed to have been able to attend this one night only sold out event! First of all y’all know Joyce is one of my personal heroes, so just to get to see her perform was already such a thrill for me. And let me tell you, she was everything I had ever dreamed of and more, such an amazing artist. Then you add the Met Orchestra led by none other than the legendry James Levine and it’s heaven! Seriously, Beethoven’s 7</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;Symphony was just impossibly gorgeous and the overture of Il Vespri Siciliani being played the WEEK of Verdi’s 200</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;anniversary was just a marvelous slap of my musically drugged face.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="IT">Vesselina Kasarova and the Camerata Berg</span></i><span lang="IT"> (Sala Sao Paulo)<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JyNbuAGkIZ4/UV2m3OsIodI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/L2i8xQ7X1Go/s1600/20904_10151508203249351_67218954_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JyNbuAGkIZ4/UV2m3OsIodI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/L2i8xQ7X1Go/s400/20904_10151508203249351_67218954_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Two magical nights in a row! I was already a great fan of Vesselina’s work but to actually see her live right in front of me was so incredible. Plus, as you guys have read in my posts about this concert, she kept looking and smiling at me and my bff for almost half of the concert which was just impossible and insane and wonderful. She did her Mozart and Rossini repertoire which I love and I got to fall in love with her Sesto once again! *sighs*</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Best Opera Singer Meetups</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now this is where I get overly emotional like a good Brazilian always does and start crying. I can’t help it though, these are also in alphabetical order because they were all equally awesome.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annick Massis<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8Dwq4mRYtQ/Ug_KW6hZLnI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/QpIO_YMXimg/s1600/IMG_20130816_225928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8Dwq4mRYtQ/Ug_KW6hZLnI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/QpIO_YMXimg/s400/IMG_20130816_225928.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Annick is such a generous person and I knew that from the moment she walked on stage she gave it her all to that performance. I will never forget the kindness she showed towards me, looking in my eyes and being sincerely interested in what I had to say. She showed such interest in me I was a bit shocked and even gave me my very first opportunity to sing in a real life masterclass, her masterclass. I look back at those two amazing evenings that I chatted for a while with her after her performances with always a smile on my face.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joyce DiDonato<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5CQlgCyr5Ck/Un2QY4I8rjI/AAAAAAAABSE/RUXS40NRgno/s1600/1385657_10151780672957713_260339821_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5CQlgCyr5Ck/Un2QY4I8rjI/AAAAAAAABSE/RUXS40NRgno/s400/1385657_10151780672957713_260339821_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I think this was one of the best moments of my life, getting to meet Joyce the way it happened. It was so surreal, first to walk in that room and see her SO DAMN CLOSE and just wait a few minutes that felt like 974298734 hours. Then to get to have her first words uttered to me be my own freaking name, I mean, how cool is that? She’s like one of my heroes and she actually knows who I am and plus was so thrilled that we had finally met and that I went to see her. I mean, that’s daydream material, that’s fanfiction material and it happened to me in real life. I got several hugs and even more kind and amazing words from her. Plus I got to walk around the Carnegie Hall backstage area WITH HER and talk.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sondra Radvanovsky <span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYrm4hXtr5I/UlXgOopFfpI/AAAAAAAABEM/O7xkQ_89c-Y/s1600/528283_10151768207567713_1493618484_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYrm4hXtr5I/UlXgOopFfpI/AAAAAAAABEM/O7xkQ_89c-Y/s400/528283_10151768207567713_1493618484_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now Sondra is someone who inspires me SO MUCH to pursue this career. She’s also one of my personal heroes and ultimate role model. And I got to see her twice! First time I met her it was in the Met’s stage door area and I was terrified because A- it was my first time stage dooring at the Met B- she walks out and she’s like SUPER TALL C- I’m afraid I won’t be able to speak because of nervousness and/or unexpected tears. So I just stood there like an idiot with my mouth probably hanging opened looking her while she sighed stuff feeling my heart beat in my throat (Lord help me I might choke in my own heart!). She saw me there and walked up to me, took my hand and shook it and said “Hi! I’m Sondra! But you probably know that, right?”, for the first 3 seconds I was frozen but then I regained consciousness and was able to speak fluently and well and we hit it off quite well. After talking to her for a while I told her I’d be watching Norma again on Monday and she proceeded to invite me to go to her dressing room to talk to her after the show on Monday. I nearly had a heart attack then. Monday we met again, in the dressing rooms area backstage at the Met and she was again, SO SWEET and SUPER KIND. Seriously, I wanna be like this lady when I grow up, she’s fabulous and all kinds of wonderful!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vesselina Kasarova<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eIPcjfZZplc/UVu43uRteBI/AAAAAAAAAjw/Y8ViZfqwOGw/s1600/IMG_20130402_235113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eIPcjfZZplc/UVu43uRteBI/AAAAAAAAAjw/Y8ViZfqwOGw/s400/IMG_20130402_235113.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Vesselina’s heart is the size of a house. And it’s funny because she has such a strong stage presence that me and my bff were a bit apprehensive about going up and talking to her. But she was a bucket of sugar, so sweet I couldn’t believe it. She was particularly fond of us because she saw us in the front row smiling at her every 5 seconds. We both quickly connected with her and had a lovely time talking to her. The second day she waved at us from the stage when she walked in and actually took my hand during one of her last ovations to thank me. That was SO SURREAL!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, I guess that’s it for now. In other news I’m NEARLY graduating, I have one grade to come out yet. I pray to God everyday to help me pass, so help me God I WILL!</span></div>Belahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940075924322732507noreply@blogger.com4